


Far From Home

by Ghost_Writing, Sparky (Ghost_Writing)



Series: Original Works [7]
Category: No Fandom, Original Magic World, Original Story, Original Work, Original characters - Fandom, Sci-Fi - Fandom, The Veiled Falls Multiverse - Original World
Genre: Abuse, Adventure, Alcohol, Amputation, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguing, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Bar, Bartenders, Blind Character, Boats and Ships, Books, Bookshop, Bookstores, Canon Disabled Character, Canon LGBTQ Character, Canon LGBTQ Female Character, Canon LGBTQ Male Character, Child Abuse, Complete, Concerts, Consensual, Crushes, Dark Past, Disability, Disabled Character, Disabled Character of Color, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Fantasy Religion, Fast Food, Fluff, Food, Gay, Gay Male Character, Gen, Guitarist Character, Guitarist Lance Emerixon, Guitars, Heavy Angst, How Do I Tag, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Knotting, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Made Up Alcohol Drinks, Magic, Magic-Users, Magical Tattoos, Multi, Multiple Dimensions, Multiverse, Murder, Music, Musicians, Mutual Pining, Nudity, On the Run, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Original Species, Original Universe, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, POV First Person, POV Male Character, Partial Nudity, Past Abuse, Past Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Past Character Death, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Relationship(s), Past Sexual Abuse, Physical Disability, Pining, Pirate Ships, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Pre-Poly, Public Nudity, Rape/Non-con Elements, Religion, Retired Singer, Running Away, Safe Sane and Consensual, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Shameless Smut, Shapeshifting, Smoking, Smut, Tags Are Hard, Tags Contain Spoilers, Tags May Change, Tavern, Taverns, The Veiled Falls Multiverse, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, This is gonna get raunchy, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Trans Male Character, Transgender, Triggers, Wedding Rings, Weddings, Wine, clothing change, dead names, nightclubs, original magic systems, shitty parents, so very very gay, unsupportive parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:15:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 25
Words: 55,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23688295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost_Writing/pseuds/Ghost_Writing, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost_Writing/pseuds/Sparky
Summary: The Veiled Falls Multiverse holds many secrets, myths and legends. What happens when you're separated from your family and home without a way back and the only information about your home is myths and rumours.Lance has found himself without a home, travelling from dimension to dimension in search of his home for eleven years.Little does he know, there's a lot more to the story than he remembers.
Relationships: Original Female Character & Original Male Character, Original Male Character & Original Male Character, Original Male Character(s) & Original Non-Binary Character(s)
Series: Original Works [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1462018
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	1. The Cover




	2. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Prologue, a very short chapter to tease you with the story. ;)

_ Memories… what are memories?  _

_ They’re what fills the void from then to now, _

_ Eternity, _

_ They’re words, pictures and feelings that contain experiences from the past, _

_ Your past, _

_ But why do they exist in the realm of our minds?  _

_ What purpose do they serve but to hold the fragments that make up who we are, _

_ People say your past doesn’t define you, but each and every moment turns into your past, _

_ Each feeling, each dream you have, each smell, each taste, each blink make up your past,  _

_ Every building on the structure of your being, _

_ So why is it so hard to express to others who we are? _

* * *

I stare off the bow of my ship floating by stars as I sail through the galaxy near Asteria in the Central Dimension. 

A small breath of air exits my lungs, rolling out between my lips. I raise the cigarette up to my lips, taking a drag of the harsh smoke before sending it out into the air.

If you had asked me sixteen years ago where I would see myself now, I would’ve told you a completely different story than a crewless pirate captain who has no home, no family, no friends, no… life.

I can feel the tears pooling up in the corners of my eyes. I raise my sleeve to my face to wipe them away.  Some days when I focus hard enough, I can still see her face… hear her voice. Those final words repeating in my mind… 

_ “I love you, always.”  _

A strangled noise escapes my lips as her face crosses my mind, her soft, purple hijab pinned neatly, freckles painted over her cheeks… it’s all there, in my memory, staring back at me. 

_ What would she think of me now?  _

_ Would she be proud of me, or would she be disappointed that I’ve squandered my life, my powers and everything that’s been handed to me?  _

_ Would she sneer at me for having stolen to survive or would she extend her hand to me in hopes that I would fly? _

I miss her more than the moon and stars, more than I’ve ever missed anything. I would give my life to see her smile again, to feel her warm hugs. 

I swear I’ll find a way back to her. 

I slump to the deck of the ship, pulling my knees to my chest, the cigarette dropping over the edge. I miss her more than I ever have. I can’t accept that I’ll never see her again. I can’t give up. 

_ I will find her. _


	3. The Bookshop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No trigger warnings apply.

It was early morning when I left my ship, the sun was barely in the sky and already the city was bustling and alive with merchants setting up their stalls. I’ve spent the day visiting different stalls and bargaining with merchants. I have to admit, once or twice I’ve swiped a few overpriced items. 

Half-way through the day, I’ve found myself in the third level of the city. 

Up here there are more expensive shops, as well as different cafés and bakeries. My mouth waters as delicious smells float through the air around me. 

I make sure to pay a visit to my friends in different shops, they usually give me a discount or trade me for rare items from other dimensions that they can sell to visitors. I get a brand new rainbow bandana this way and tie it around my head before exiting the shop.

Eventually, my wandering takes me to one of my favourite shops in the city. The golden sign catches my eye from down the street and a smile grows on my face. 

Words and Pages. 

I swing open the door and step inside, immediately transported to the familiar comfort of the cozy book shop. I navigate the shop through stacks of unsorted books and mix-matched chairs.

I’m reading the back of a book from the shelf in front of me when I catch him out of the corner of my eye, fixing his collar ever so slightly and combing a hand through his hair.  
I relish for a moment in the sight of the man who’s stolen my heart. 

His brown hair curled and fluffy around his head cut off just below the ears by the undercut he sports, his eyes are a dazzling blue against his bark-brown skin with small freckles dancing across his cheeks. Clinging to his sculpted torso is a black turtle-necked sweater, barely hiding the beltline of his high-waisted blue-jeans. Tall army-style boots are tied onto his feet, completing his outfit.

“How’s my favourite book-keep?” I ask, feeling the words drip from my tongue like fine wine on their own accord. I pocket my hands and lean against the bookshelf next to me.

“I’m fine, as always. How’re you?” he returns the question, giving me a broad smile.

“Same as usual. Wanna sit?” I gesture to the pair of plush chairs tucked in the corner nearby.

He nods enthusiastically. “Sure!”

I start walking, motioning for him to follow. He does.

I strut over to two chairs and a table, sitting down in one of the chairs as he does the same. On the table, there’s a book with a large golden owl holding a scroll printed on the dust jacket.

“So, how’s the shop been? You haven’t had any trouble with pirates, have ya?” I inquire, a hint of worry lacing my protective words.

“No, they haven’t bugged me since you scared them off. Thank you, again, for that,” he chuckles, remembering the day as he tucks his hair behind his ear.

“Good… good…”

“The shop’s also been doing well, we’ve had a few newer costumers turn into regulars and I’ve hired an assistant, today’s her day off,” he explains to me, fiddling with his hair. “But it’s not the same as when you were…”

A small lump of guilt forms in my throat. He doesn’t need to finish the sentence for me to know what he’s saying.

“Luke… you know why I can’t stay here anymore. I’m sorry, truly I am. I wish I could stay again.”

“If you were you’d have the guts to face her…”

“You know why I can’t do that!” I shout.

His eyes go wide and he shakes his head to cover the shock.   
“I know… but I miss my best friend.”

“Me too. Me too. You wanna close up early and catch up?” I offer, staring at the floor in shame.

“No, no, I can’t, it’s only mid-day.” Luke shakes his head, standing up. “We can catch up later, how much longer are you here for this time?”

“I’m leaving early morning tomorrow.”

His smile sinks for a brief moment before he brightens it back up again.

“Maybe another time then. Feel free to look around the shop, I’ll be at the till if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

As he walks away, my smile fades away and I retreat further into the back of the shop to bury myself in some books.

I manage to get a few new ones, as well as an old book I lost in the sea accidentally. I walk up to the till with them, dreading having to face him again and tell him I’m leaving.

“Find anything good?” he asks, trying to make conversation between us as he rings me up at the computer.

“I hope so… it gets lonely on my ship.” 

“Lance… you know I can’t go with you, I have responsibilities here… and what would my parents think? Who’d watch the shop? What would I do with Blix?”

“Luke, you’ve never even been out of the country! You need to stop worrying about this and live a little. You said it yourself, you have an assistant now, leave the shop to her, and Blix can come with us!”

“Lance you know I can’t…”

“Why? You keep telling me that but you never say why.”

“... That’s ten silver dryltos,” he says, avoiding eye contact, bagging the books in a cloth bag. 

I hand him the amount, grab my books wordlessly. 

“Think about it. Don’t spend your whole life cooped up here and regret it.”

I slip out of the shop, not wanting to wait for his reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost forgot to post this!! So you get a double chapter today!!


	4. Lonely Whispers and Dancing with the Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No trigger warnings apply.
> 
> Mild alcohol use.

My high heeled boots click against the pavement as I stroll through the market stalls. I take a pause in front of one of them. There are delicate scarves laid out on display with beautiful patterns woven across them. Carefully, I pick one up and examine it, rubbing my thumb against the soft material, tracing the pattern.

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch the shop-keep looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I let out a soft snort that’s only audible for my ears and set the scarf down. “Not my style,” I mumble, waving a hand as I stalk off, putting both hands in my front pockets only a couple steps away from the stall.

I’ve made it a bit farther down the line of stalls, pausing to examine gorgeous jewels, soft silks and maybe one or two strangers. when a soft, comforting scent fills my nose. I look around and pinpoint the smell. It’s coming from one of the stalls; a slightly larger one with a stone oven visible from the street.

My legs move before I can even tell them too, and I reach the stall’s counter in seconds. I click the brass bell and let it ring out before leaning against the wooden counter to wait, resting my head in my hand lazily. 

It doesn’t take too long for a stout woman to come bustling out, wiping her henna print hands-on the white apron that’s hugging the front of her torso, her golden brown hair held back by a tight bun. 

“Hello sir, how can I help you?” she asks me cheerfully, a bright smile across her face.

“Yeah, I was wondering what smelt so good,” I say, complimenting her in hopes she’ll give me a deal, I’m actually quite famished.

“Well, I just took some cinnamon and pineapple bread out of the oven. A single silver will get you five slices,” she says, pointing to the sign that shows the prices. She did give me a deal though, usually, it’s one silver and a bronze drylto for five slices of specialty bread.

“Alright, I’ll take it.” I rummage through my messenger bag for my change pouch. It holds so many different types of currency that it’s a bit hard to find the one she’s asking for.

Once I find the drylto, she already has the bread wrapped up, a slice of ox meat thrown on top of them. I pass her the drylto, and take the bread and continue my stroll down the street.

I’ve finished two slices and the meat when I come across a street-band, they’ve got a drummer, bassist, a singer, but their guitarist seems to be missing. An idea crosses my mind and I pack away my bread into my bag and I stride up to the drummer.

“Hey, ‘you need a guitarist?” I inquire, trying to hide the smirk forming on my lips as I lean in, so close to his ear that I can smell his lime shampoo on his bright blue hair.

“Yeah, you know one, man?” he snorts, beating away a heavy rhythm on the drum set as the singer drones out some melodramatic lyrics.

“Don’t mean to brag but you’re talking to one of the best guitarists of The Nine Seas.” The smirk spreads across my face now, and as he turns to get a better look at me I can see slightly underneath his mask large, black tears are printed across his cheeks. 

I gulp, the sight of Necromancer casters always creeps me out. 

“Well then, grab the guitar over there,” he mutters, turning back to his drum after pointing to a case leaning against the alley entrance.

“You got it,” I chirp, waltzing to the beat over towards the case.

When I open the case, my fingers flicking up the buckles, a dark black guitar with large yellow lightning bolts coming from the bottom stares back at me.

I pick up the guitar, slinging the strap around my back and taking out my favourite pic from my pocket. It doesn’t take me long to return to the street-band, the drummers watching me now, and the singers giving me a wary look.

I make a beeline straight for them.

“What song are we doing?” I ask, my fingers ghosting over the strings of the guitar, anxious to play.

“Devil’s Dance,” they state bluntly, their face turning into a smirk as they give me a song that for most guitarists, would be a death sentence.

I snort, laughing in his face briefly.

“Alright, if that’s what you’d like, jackass,” I reply, backing up slightly and stretching out my fingers.

I fail to mention the fact I wrote the damn song, as I give a quick glance to the band, they’re looking at me like they’ve won and I’m going to fail on the first note. Bunch of assholes. 

My fingers glide across the strings with ease, dancing up and down playfully, plucking and pressing at the strings. I can feel the rhythm in my bones as the drummer and bassist struggle to catch up to me, finally out of shock, but the singer just stands there, lips gaping open and words caught in their throat.

I roll my eyes, gliding over to where the singer stands with ease, and in front of the mic-stand instead. Before they can catch on, lyrics are dripping out from between my lips and into the mic, sounding out from the speakers. 

It doesn’t take the singer long to catch up, taking back the mic just in time for the chorus to hit. I step back and let him as I move through the gathering crowd, dancing as I go, my fingers still flying on the strings. I disguise a snap as I pull back a string and send myself back to the center, next to the singer.

I guess that’s what gave me away because not even seconds later, my eyes pick up two roughly dressed, burly men, and an equally fit woman charging towards me through the crowd.

I thrust the guitar into the singer’s hands and wave goodbye as a wave of adrenaline rushes through me and my legs take off as fast as they can. 

My legs are moving faster, taking my body far away from the market stalls and strange people as I race down the street. A sudden right turn takes me face-to-face with an abandoned building. Without a moment's hesitation, I burst through the door and race up the stairs, heading all the way to the top. As I open the door out of the stairwell, I find myself cornered by the three men, the door blocked from my path. My mind raced as I tried to find a quick exit.

“Aster, Stephenson, Graham, guys come on, let’s talk about this,” I chuckle nervously as I glance at all three of them.

“Not a chance,” Stephenson growls before lunging towards me.

My eyes dart frantically around the stairwell. Suddenly I remember seeing a window, three feet down, with a crack running through the glass pane.

“Well, if that’s what you want. See if you can catch me then, fuckers.”

I launch myself off the railing of the stairs, propelling myself out the window feet first, as glass shatters around me, cutting up my favourite shoes, and my skin. I landed heavily on top of the apartment building next to the last one in and ran as fast as my legs could carry me. Thank god for the speed increaser charm I had purchased months ago, or I would be toast. I rotated the chunky leather bracelet hugged to my wrist tightly with a sense of smugness as the wind rushed past me and I took my chances at a getaway.

I didn’t even realize I was in the air until I was soaring over the top of the road below, my feet landing on the hard cement of the building’s roof across from the one I had leapt off of. I had no time to celebrate my accomplishment as the Wind Caster, Aster, leaps after me gaining on me quickly.

How fucking fast is this chick?! 

I’ve seen her chase others before, but I always thought I’d be able to overcome her. Why the fuck did she have to see me? Anyone else, and I would’ve gotten away from easily with that jump. 

Casually flipping the bird to her as I leap off the building, twirling in the air before landing on the next building, a soft chuckle leaving my lips. If there was anything I loved in this world, it would be a good chase from rivals.

I mentally cheer, the thrill of the chase coursing through my body as I turn the corner and prepare to leap down onto the street.

Taking a deep breath of air I lurch to a stop.

“Watch this asshat,” I call to her, a smirk across my lips. 

Without another warning, I stand on the edge and raise my hand to my forehead and then to the air with the other reaching out at waist level, saluting her. I lean back on my ankles, tipping off the side of the building, falling with my arms open as I watch Aster nearly launch off the building with me. She looks sick and I can see her grabbing her mouth like she’s going to hurl. I’ve almost collided with the pavement, my body braces for impact on instinct, but instead of breaking into a pile of blood and bones, I simply fall through like it's no more than a mere pool of water.

For anyone else, they would’ve seen the bones, blood, and guts go everywhere from what looked like a suicide. I would appear dead to the untrained eye.

* * *

After a hot minute, I stumble back a bit and find myself in a dark alley, building walls towering over me on each side. I straighten out my blazer and stride forwards towards the street. 

There’s no need to glance around to see if I was followed, this part of the city is controlled by a different pirate crew.

My feet walk themselves in the direction of my favourite tavern, The Lonely Whisper. I push open the door and run one of my hands through my auburn hair, fixing my bun and smoothing down the loose parts, as I set foot inside the lively tavern, My eyes watch each table that I pass by people enjoying themselves before leaning against the bar.

I cough, trying to remember the words in Ail-Ail, the language spoken most commonly in Pemia, the country I’m currently in. When I finally find the words, the barkeep has already noticed me.

“Ah, Lance! I was wondering when I’d see you today,” the barkeep teases me while taking out a mug from underneath the bar, her lips parting to ask me a question. She’s a good friend of mine, mostly due to the fact that I’ve been coming to her tavern for years now.

I answer it before she even speaks. “Gleaming Heaven, the usual.”

“Ah, very well,” she smiles, moving to pour my desired drink.

I turn and lean my back against the bar, arms folded across my chest. It doesn’t take long for her to slide me my drink, I take it and walk over to my usual seat, a small booth at the back of the bar that gives me a bit of privacy from the way it’s built.

I sat there for quite a while, and two drinks down, I decided to go have a smoke and get some fresh air outside as the urge for a smoke bears over me.

Rising to my feet, I announce to Lily that “I’m going to go smoke,” and she should “hold my table,” as I stride out of the bar, leaving my mug on my table.

“You got it,” she calls after me, not even looking up from the mug she was washing.

I’ve just barely left the shop and lit my smoke before something, no, someone, collides into me.

“Woah there,” I mumbled, trying to steady myself, still holding the cigarette between my fingers, as the other person falls to their ass on the pavement. 

I glance down and it’s Luke! His white dress-shirt is untucked from his high-waisted pants like he’d been running, and his hair is a complete mess.

“Luke! You alright?” I ask, reaching my hand down to help him up.

“Y-yeah, I think so?” he answers, his voice cracking awkwardly in the middle. He looks over his shoulder frantically. “I have to get going, I’m running from someone currently.”

“Come inside,” I say all too quickly, following it up with an explanation. “People don’t usually come down this way, and the tavern’s usually overlooked thanks to a few illusions.” 

“Are you sure? I don’t want to get caught,” he stresses, looking behind himself again.

“Wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure. But you gotta make up your mind quickly or you’ll get us both caught.” I hit at the fact I’m hiding from rival pirates, and he shakes his head with a laugh.

“What did you do this time?” he presses, walking inside with me.

“Well, it’s kinda a long story…” I begin. “You might want a drink for this.”

“Oh, yes, one Flaming Snowball… please?” he says to Lily and she nods, giving me a sly look.

Strong drink. He doesn’t usually order that… I wonder what’s on his mind… 

“My booth’s over there, I’ll get the drinks,” I tell him, buying myself a little time to compose myself.  
“And add another Gleaming Heaven to that as well please,” I request her.

“Coming right up,” she chirps, giving me a wink that causes my face to flush as I wait at the bar.

I nervously wait for both drinks to be made. Once they’re done, I make my way over to my booth where Luke has seated himself. My eyes wander across him as he daydreams, leaning on his hand against the table and staring off into space. His eyes always get an alluring look in them when he daydreams. His shirt hangs slightly off his shoulder thanks to three undone buttons, exposing a part of his neck and gold tattoo that wraps around it. His hair is still messed up slightly, and he’s still a bit flushed from running earlier. My face flushes as the thought of him looking like that because of me crosses my mind. 

Fuck, what’s wrong with me? He’s my best friend, I shouldn’t feel like this. It’s bad enough that Ycee already gives me shit about Crimson… 

“Here you go, one fresh Flaming Snowball,” I announce coughing to get his attention as I pass him the large mug.

Luke simply hums in thanks. I take up drinking my drink, sipping from the fancy glass that rests in my hand. I can feel his hot gaze scanning my body, trailing down from my brightly coloured bandana, across the dark brown jacket that hung from my shoulders, across the lighter waistcoat that hugged my frame, the light-beige shirt, I can tell from the look in their eyes that he’s got more in mind that just-drinks between friends.

“So, how did you end up running from the guards this time?” he presses, looking at me with curiosity dazzling in his eyes. 

“Mm, you have to tell me why the goody-two-shoes book-keep managed to find himself running from guards first,” I state, smirking at how easily I turned tables on him.

“I’m not running from guards… I… I spilt red wine all over someone and they started chasing after me,” Luke mumbles, swirling their drink in their hands.

I bark out a laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me! Please tell me they deserved it!”

“Oh yes they very well did, he was hitting on me and wouldn’t take no, so I spilt wine all over the white-fur trim on his coat,” Luke states, huffing. 

I bark in laughter. “Luke, dear god, man… I wish I saw that…” 

“H-hey I told you mine, now tell me why you’re running from the guards!” he squeaks in embarrassment.

“Well, you see… It wasn’t guards I was running from this time… a rival pirate crew saw me teleport while I was doing some street performing and, well, let’s just say I’m not on their best terms after I had a one-nightstand with their captain…” I say.

“Oh shit,” he whispers under his breath, “Which one?”

I remember, they frequent his shop more now… fuck I could get him into shit if they saw me.

“Angel’s Reckoning. Ring any bells?” I ask.

He looks lost in thought for a moment, before finally responding. “Nope! Only have Bloody Seas, and Purple Parrot.”

I breathe a sigh of relief.

“But now you have to tell me, what’s the story?” he asks, leaning forward on the table with a dopey grin on his face.

“Sorry not this one,” I sigh, looking away from him. “Why were you out alone anyways? You could’ve gone with me…”

“I didn’t want to bother you after how I brushed you off earlier,” he admits.

“Luke, you could never bother me.”

“Are you sure?” He looks up at me with big puppy dog eyes.

Fuck, this man has my heart in a vice-grip.

“Absolutely. Now, tell me the story of this assistant!”

“Okay, okay. But you owe me a story too.”

“Fine…”

“Yes! Let’s see… It all started when…”

We fill the evening with strong drinks and stories of adventures until we’re both swaying and Lily kicks us out so she can go to bed. Somehow, we managed to stumble our way to Luke’s house and crash on the bed, still clothed.


	5. Dead Names and Titles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I forgot to post this yesterday... I was way too exhausted to remember.

Ugh, fuck, what is making that god awful noise?!

I rub my eyes and sit up in bed, squinting as I look around, trying to figure out where I wound up and what in the world woke me up from the best sleep I’ve had in years. 

My eyes settle on a tiny, dragon-like creature pawing at my feet, trying to get me up by making sharp chirps.

“What on…?” I mumble, holding out my hand and letting it’s tiny nose sniff it as I come back to reality.

It’s Blix! 

They’re no bigger than the German Shepherd, yet they still manage to wind me when they slump down on my chest. Blix nuzzles my hand for me to pet them, so I run my hand over soft scales and little ruffles on their back. I’m scratching it in the divet between their wing and back when Luke finally returns.

Luke stumbles up the stairs, takes one look at me and the creature and shakes his head a small hint of a smile on his face.  
“That’s where you are Blixy, I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”  
He sets a small bowl down by the foot of the bed and Blix hops off me and trots over towards it happily.

“Well, they seem happy,” I comment, leaning back on my elbows.

“Only ‘cause you’re here…” he sighs, sitting down at the foot of the bed.

There’s a tense silence that looms between us. I shift uncomfortably on the bed.

“So, Lance, you mentioned something about an offer last night?” he inquires, looking at me with curiosity.

I did?

I try to recount last night’s events. Then it hits me.

“Well… Luke… I was wondering..”

Don’t ask this. He’ll say no.

“Do you want to join me on my travels? I could use the company. And it could give you some stories of your own to tell.” The moment the words leave my lips, I regret it.

“I don’t know, they all sound rather extraordinary… are you sure you want me on that journey?” Luke mused, strolling away from me. 

He’s actually considering it?! I’ve never gotten this far! Come on Lance, don’t fuck this up!

I get up and follow him as he walks in between bookshelves. I catch myself looking him over, my gaze watching his body. I gulp as I notice the small swinging in his hips as he walks, how he moves so fluidly. 

“You seem like the perfect type, could get into a lot of tight spots,” I comment, attempting to persuade him in more ways than one as I draw my hands up from his hips to mid-way up his chest and then down back.

“Are you calling me short?!” he says, turning back to me and crossing his arms.

He’s not that short, but compared to me, it’s significant.

“No, no, I’m just saying that you’re smaller than me. I can’t get into spaces like you could,” I explain, trying to save myself.

“Sure… I could see how that would be an advantage. But don’t call me short, I’m not. I’m only five foot eight,” he replies, tracing his fingers across the spines of the books on the shelves and pulling a few off. He hasn’t pushed my hands off him yet, but I don’t want to push my luck so I take them off, no matter how much I long to keep them on him.

“Of course, I wouldn’t dare,” I agree as he moves to get more books.

“Good. But you still haven’t convinced me yet,” he teases, picking a few more books up.

Oh, he’s playing that game.

“You have to admit, here is... well...” I pause, gesturing around me, barely able to stick out my arms, “stuffy, to say the least. You should be out on the open sea where you can feel the wind on your face and smell the salt on every inch of your skin. You should be on adventures, traversing the multiverse and it’s many secrets and uncovering even more!”

“I don’t know…” he says, the look on his face reading otherwise.

“Come on, haven’t you ever wanted to leave this place and go somewhere where no one knows your name or where you’ve been, not even you? There has to be a part of you in there that wants to go.”

“I um… when you put it that way I guess there is… alright, I’ll go!” Luke exclaims excitedly, bustling off back in the direction we came from, leaving me stunned where I stand. 

“Hey, are you sure? That’s a pretty rushed decision,” I manage to say once I regain control of my body and mind. “This isn’t just some simple decision to make, it’s not like buying a new shirt, it’s leaving everything here behind.”

There’s a part of me that believes him. He wouldn’t have asked for convincing to go if he wasn’t going to leave. But still… it feels unreal.

He pauses his packing and looks up at me. “Lance, I know. I have my reasons for wanting to leave, you’ve asked me often enough for it to cross my mind when you’re absent, and if I want to come back I own my shop, it’ll still be here for me. I own it, and only my assistant and I have the key.” He grabs more clothes from his drawer, I notice that they’re actual adventuring clothes and maybe a tad impressed by the fact he knows what to pack.

As he’s walking around the shop, scooping up notebooks and random objects he piles them on top of the bed, I notice a lot of pens and blank notebooks.

“Are you planning to journal?” I ask, giving him a confused look because no soul needs that many notebooks. 

“I’m a writer, Lance,” he sighs, turning to me while rubbing the bridge of his nose, “I need that many notebooks so I can work on novels. I’m not just going to go and not write. It’s part of me.” He rolls his eyes and turns back to his packing.

“Alright fair, but I’m gonna put them in a pocket dimension while we get to the ship so that we aren’t carrying them all the way there.” I draw a circle in the air just big enough to stick my head inside.

“WAIT YOU HAVE SPACE MANIPULATION?! SINCE WHEN!?” Luke asked excitedly, rushing over towards me to study the portal I made.

“It's not a big deal… I thought I showed you before…” I admit awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck for lack-there-of a better action to do with my hands. He’s close now, so close that I can feel his breath on my neck and see the smallest flakes of gold in his eyes. 

He blinks at me with his big, almond eyes. “What do you mean it’s not a big deal? That’s amazing!” He lifts up my hand, running his fingers over each curve as if he’s studying it to see if it’ll make another portal.  
“We could’ve used this for the shop! I’ve always needed more space.”

“I have used it on the shop. You have too many books,” I tease, shaking my head.

He chuckles and shakes his head, looking up into my eyes. “You mean that day I got lost and whined about the shop getting bigger on its own I was correct.”

I flush from how close he is to me.  
“Yeah, it was pretty funny,” I laugh with him.

We stand there for a moment until I feel my anxiety building up in my stomach, quickly I pull away, backing up against the wall and leaning against it.  
“Come on, just finish packing up,” I mumble, picking up a book from the table next to me and skimming through it.

I glance in his direction and catch him looking at me with a confused look. He shrugs it off and turns back to his packing the moment I notice. At some point Blix comes up to me and rubs against my leg, trying to get me to pet them. I reach down for a brief moment and give them a scratch behind the ear.

“Alright, I’m done. Are you ready?” Luke states, approaching me, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder and a leash in his hand.

“...yeah.” I gulp, trying to tear my eyes away from him to not look creepy, and instead, I take the leash from his hands and clip it onto Blix’s collar.

“Well, let’s go,” he chirps happily and the two of us walk down the stairs of his shop. 

I watch as he fishes his keys out of his pocket and locks the door behind us, drawing a small symbol on the door so that it’s protected from intruders while he’s gone. 

We’ve just turned around and started walking down the street back in the direction that we came from last night when a stout, dark-skinned man stops us, a fair-skinned, lanky woman trailing behind him. Out of the corner of my eye, Luke’s body tensing and he shuffles towards me a bit more, clutching tightly to his bag. I sneer at the two people blocking our path.

“Rosalie, where are you off to?” the stout man asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

I blink, slightly shocked. 

How dare he use Luke’s deadname. 

I have no time to think when I hear Luke stutter out a soft whisper of a command.

“G-go away,” he mumbles, glaring the man down while trying to hide behind me.

“Now now Rosalie, is that any way for you to treat your parents?” the woman asks, her voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard and I flinch from just hearing it once.

I can feel Luke shrink against my side, and Blix is now growling. Even if they’re his parents, he clearly doesn’t want to be near them. I reach my arm around and push Luke behind me fully, putting myself between Luke and his parents. 

“Perhaps you didn't hear him, allow me to repeat. Go. Away,” I growl at them, putting my hand on the hilt of my sword, the left side of my mouth arching up in a snarl.

“Shut up faggot. My daughter is clearly leading you on. Whatever she’s told you, been a lie. She’s known to lie to everyone to get her way, especially dressed like this,” she gestures at Luke behind me.

“Perhaps you didn’t know, but she’s a girl. In and out. And this is a family matter, so kindly fuck off,” the man snarls back, taking a step towards me.

“I’ve heard enough! Call me a faggot, insult my choice in partners all you want. But never bad mouth my friends.”

He remains standing there, glaring at me with a nasty look on his face.

My hand wraps around the hilt of my sword in milliseconds and I have the tip against his throat in less time.  
“Perhaps you didn’t hear. He said go, away. I suggest you comply before I slit your fucking throat.” 

“You wouldn’t dare,” he snarls, glaring at me and standing his ground. A crowd has gathered around us, whispering to each other and pointing.

“Oh, but I would. I’ve killed men with far thicker skulls than yours. They all bleed the same against my sword. Don’t test me.”

There’s a whisper behind me. 

“Isn’t that guy the King of the Nine Seas?” 

“Yeah, this man’s fucked”.

He’s quivering and shaking underneath my sword, and I barely catch the whisper that leaves his mouth because of the woman’s shouting that they should leave.  
“Alright, I’ll go…” 

“Good choice,” I chirp, a hint of malice lacing my sweet tone. While I sheath my sword and turn to Luke.  
“Well darling, how’d you like to spend the night with a king?” I announce, extending my hand to Luke and winking.

He takes it while laughing. “I’d love to.”

As his hand rests in mine I beam at him and we break off in a sprint down the street, taking back roads and secret exits until we reach the docks. Luke’s panting next to me as we stare down at the docks, still on level two of the city. 

“Where’s… your… ship?” he asks between pants, waiting for me to point it out below us.

“Oh, I don’t have one. We have to commandeer one of the palaces,” I state, looking at him with the most serious face I can muster.

“Fuck,” he groans, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Kidding!” I exclaim, laughing hysterically. “You should see the look on your face. It’s that one.” I point down to a ship tied to the docks, it’s large colourful sails stand out against the rest and the glass panel on the side is almost visible because of how shallow the water is.

“Thank god,” he sighs.

“Now, we’re going to do this the fun way,” I pull him close to my side and hold him, untying the fabric from the side of my wrist and pulling it over the rope above us.

“Wait, what?!” he shouts as I push us off the ledge. I feel him grip onto me tightly as we glide down the rope.

The tops of buildings pass under our feet, most of them consumed by water. We land on the watchtower with another convenient rope that takes us down to the docks. When our feet finally reach solid ground, Luke lets go of me, and Blix chirps, landing happily on my shoulder.

“Alrighty, is everyone still intact?” I laugh after seeing how pale Luke is. “Oh come on, you’re going to be a pirate, don’t tell me you’re scared of a little ziplining?” 

“What! No, I’m not!” Luke insists, crossing his arms over his chest. “You just startled me, that’s all.”

“Of course, whatever you say. Now come on, we’ve got to set sail!” I cheer, taking his hand and leading him onto the ship.

We step onto the deck of the ship, and immediately he’s overwhelmed by his surroundings. I watch as he stands in the middle of the ship and slowly turns to take in the whole picture. I stifle a small chuckle as I let him explore the deck as I prep the ship.

Once we’ve set sail I hop down from the sails and land next to him, he found his way onto the poop deck, next to the steering wheel that had begun to spin itself, steering us out of the dock and onto the open sea.

“How about a grand tour?” I say as I offer my hand out towards him.

He looks over at me with a dorky smile on his face and nods fervently. I let out a soft laugh when he takes my hand, my boots creating small thuds on the wooden deck of the ship, leading him to the cabin of the ship. I grab the door before he’s even down with me, letting him walk through into the cabin, the small hint of blush on his cheeks. I follow him inside.

“So, this is my ship,” I state, gesturing to the large cabin that’s much larger inside than it appears on the outside.

I follow him as he walks past the kitchenette and towards the bookshelves that line the walls, there’s a round chair shoved into a corner, blankets stacked high on top of it, two guitars hang steadily off one of the walls. 

There’s clothes littering the ground and maybe a few dirty dishes here and there, plenty of books are scattered across the floor and various surfaces. My bed resides in the back corner of the cabin with a view of the sky behind us in the shape of a circle, an enormous Dragonian king with a multi-patterned comforter and half-a-dozen pillows. 

The room is giving off the impression it hasn’t been cleaned in weeks but still manages to stay cozy and welcoming.

I watch as Luke wanders the ship, running his fingers over the covers off different books, before grabbing a few and turning back to me with stars dancing in his eyes.

“These are some of the rarest books in existence, how did you get these?!” he asks me with excitement pitching in his voice, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Well, there’s a reason they’re rare. They’re from another dimension and travellers bring them over during hoppings,” I explain, walking over to the round couch, chucking my boots towards the door.

He follows, removing his shoes as well. “What do you mean, they’re from another dimension?” A curious look spread across his face.

“They’re really from the southern dimension… okay look, I have dimension magic, right? Well, I can open portals to other dimensions. That’s also why I have this ship, I stole it, and it allows me to jump from one dimension to another.”

He’s just staring at me with a gaping mouth now.

“You know what, think like a compass, but every point is a different dimension,” I explain, hoping this one will get through to him.

“Oh… that kinda makes sense…” he mumbles, “I’m just gonna read these though.”

“Yeah, go for it, I gotta go prep the ship for a hop, I need to load up on supplies so we gotta go to central,” I reply, grabbing my boots and lacing them up and grabbing my coat to keep my warm in the brisk night air.

“Okay,” he mumbles in reply, already lost inside a book, one of my favourite books (I’ve gone through four copies).

Outside, I finally have time to think. As I work on my magic to make it form a portal big enough for the whole ship, I think about this whole situation. 

What I’ll even do when I find my dad, will he help me get home? Or will he want nothing to do with me…

Sighing, I stare up at the moon-lit sky, maybe this won’t be so complicated, maybe I’m not broken and I’ll finally fall in love with someone who’ll actually love me back… but that’s just wishful dreaming. I shake my head, the portal is finally ready.

“BRACE YOURSELF!!” I call down to the cabin, hoping Luke hears my warning as we sail into the blue-coloured portal.

The ship jolts sending us side to side, inside I can hear the frantic yells as wind whips past me and blows me around the deck. 

Luke must’ve fallen over, or something must’ve fallen onto Luke. 

I think to myself as our ship is consumed by the portal that has manifested in front of us. I lose all sense of time as we enter, and with a deep breath, I brace myself for the unbreathable void before the calm air of the central dimension. Almost excited to see the look of shock on the count's face when I return with his ship only to leave with it again. 

The plan was to say hi to Crimson and show Luke some fun in the busiest dimension of all, but it seems the universe had a different plan for us and they found us suddenly in the middle of somewhere new.


	6. Where the fuck are we?

I rise to my feet from the deck of the ship, eyes widening as I turn and look at my surroundings. Light yellow grass licks the base of the ship as I find us slightly half in the water. I glance around, looking for a sign of something that I might seem familiar. 

However, the efforts for not. Nothing. It’s completely new surroundings. Towering mountains lean over us, casting large shadows onto the plains. Not so far off in the distance my eyes spot a desert-like biome.

Upon, closer inspection I notice dancing figures moving across the savannah we’re found ourselves in. They appear to be almost human, with long tails and dark coloured skin. 

I find it odd. Staring far too intensely that I’m almost lost in thought about what and who these creatures might be when Luke comes up behind me groaning. 

“What was that?” he asks, rubbing his head as if he knocked it against one of the bookcases.

“Sorry I forgot you were here,” I reply with a soft laugh, looking down at him and trying to see if he had actually gotten hurt or if he was just acting. 

“Yeah I’m pretty easy to forget when I’m reading,” he responds with a chuckle, poking fun at himself.

“Oh come on, you’re not that easy to forget. You do make a couple of adorable squeaks while reading though. I’ve always wanted to borrow those books.” 

He looks fine to me, but there is a sizeable lump on his forehead where his hand was rubbing previously. 

“Are you hurt?” I ask with a small hint of compassion in my tone. 

“Yeah, not much though. Nothing I haven’t felt before.”

Hopefully, he’s not lying, because I don’t see a medical treatment centre anywhere nearby… in fact, I don’t see anything nearby! It’s all just vast rolling plains. I don’t even know where the people off in the distance came from. 

Thankfully, they don’t seem to have spotted us. Maybe this central… but it doesn’t look as if that’s true for some reason. I’m kind of confused about how did we actually wind up here, and where here even is. 

I’m so lost in thought that I barely hear someone scream “BOO!” from behind me. 

I whirl around to see the tall dusty rose skin figure with large, black horns upon her head and a small flicking black tail crouched in position as if meant to scare us playfully. A black mesh cropped-shirt hanging off her chest, slightly obscuring everything underneath, and leaving the shoulders uncovered. Red belly-dancer-like pants with the sides open that pool at to her knees. 

“Jesus fucking Christ! Who the hell are you!?” I shout, frantically pulling out my sword and pointing it at the newcomer. 

“Hey, hey, hey. Chill man. Chill. I’m cool. I’m not going to hurt you. I just came to came to ask if you need help, you did kinda crash into the middle of the world out of thin air. My name’s Torix, she her pronouns. Who are you? You don’t look to be Dehara and you are certainly don’t look like me so what are you? Some kind of Volanilum?” she asks with a slight hint of curiosity in her voice.

My minds racing with questions now. 

How does she fucking speak Ruliansh!? Does this creature know about humans? 

“How do you speak Ruliansh?”

“Ah, we had a traveler here once, he taught many of us his language. We mostly speak Eiseti and the old language Mhuzdeozean, however the Deharan’s speak Iankic as their common language, however the tribes have their own respective languages,” Torix explains. 

“Okay…” It’s a strange answer that raises more questions than answers.   
“How do you know about humans?” 

“Humans haven’t been around for years, you know the ones that came from like Earth to colonize this and then got wiped out by the plague?” 

I stare at her blankly. I must’ve looked confused because she looks from me to Luke and frantically searches for what to say. 

“Oh, okay, well this is awkward. I’m not really in the mood to explain all of the lore so just gonna sum it up for you… We had humans here once, they had a huge colony, but somehow they all fucking died of the same disease, and we are the descendants of those who actually managed to survive and didn’t just die.”

Okay, that’s a little odd. 

It’s not that I don’t believe it, I’ve been through many dimensions and there are multiple different lores for different places but I’ve never been here before. Probably out of poor timing and circumstances. I now know that part of the Galantic sea in the eastern dimension I shouldn’t leave if I want to go to Central because I will wind up here… 

“Okay well, maybe that wasn’t super hard, to sum up, and explain… anyways you’ll need help? Because you fucking crashed from the sky and your ships kind of beat up.” 

I look around me and the ship has moderate damage, nothing too bad I can fix it if there’s a place to get supplies from nearby. I turn around and I tell her this and she looks at me blankly for a moment and then goes “all right you got it. Follow me though, but we can’t take the ship.”

“Fine…” I groan, turning around once we get off the ship. I collapse a portal around it, putting the ship into a pocket dimension for safekeeping. 

I’m tossed from my thoughts when Luke suddenly speaks up 

“Hey, um… Lance? Where’s Blix?” 

“Fuck.” I look around, trying to find the small dragon-like creature. They couldn’t have gone too far, he’s only as tall as a dog. 

As I frantically search around, Luke starts laughing.

“Gotcha! he’s right here,” he laughs, pointing down where Blix is licking at my boots, probably for a good chunk of time.

“Luke! Don’t fucking scare me like that!” I groan, picking up the tiny dragon. 

“Holy shit is that dragon minimus?! How did you get him? How come you guys didn’t know where you were?” Torix rambles, flabbergasted. 

I stare at her blankly.   
“A what dragon?” 

“You have a dragonus minimus. It’s from this “world”. Are you seriously that oblivious where you are?”

“I’m not even from here! I use magic for fuck’s sake! I was trying to get to an entirely different place in the god damn multiverse!!” I kick the dirt, I just want to go back into my ship and never leave. 

“That’s rough buddy, but we should probably start walking though, they don’t tend to like new people here. The last guy who popped in, so to speak, was shot on sight,” she stated, turning around and putting a finger gun to her head and pretending to shoot it. “Oh, you can’t be that gullible! First I get you with a simple jump scare and now this?! No, no, no, no, no. The last guys who came here came here and then left had the same magic as you apparently. Now that I think about it, he looked sort of like you.” 

I blink, looking at her with slight confusion in my eyes, a ball of anxiety and curiosity building up in my stomach. “Wait…” I start, rushing to catch up to her as she and Luke start walking. “Okay, so he looked like me… do you remember his name?”

“Hmm… let me think…” Torix mumbled, scratching her chin “I don’t know, it sounded like Paris it started with and it was like Eyrol, but with an x? Maybe…?” 

My father has been here, but why? 

If only I could track down the bastard and make him explain everything, like what happened to mom and how I got lost or even how to get home. 

I was so busy rubbing my head that I didn’t even hear Luke shouting at me for me to return to consciousness.

“Sorry, did I startle you? We’re here. That’s what I was trying to tell you,” Luke informs me with a smile. 

“Oh, thanks…” I mumble as a reply, rubbing the bridge of my nose as I followed Torix, glancing around me as we walked. 

Large structures made from a combination of sand, mud and wood tower above us, casting shadows just like the mountains had when we first arrived. I stare up at the buildings, marvelling at the structure and how well they’re put gather. I wonder how they were accomplished, without visible supports, only the occasional wood sticking out to support awnings. 

I’m turning and twisting my head as we walk down the street, a true rainbow people passing by us. Each one having similar arrangements of horns like Torix. We keep pace with Torix as we walk, noticing people stopping to stare.

* * *

When we finally arrive at what appears to be a small hut with dried herbs outside of the windows. Torix gives us a reassuring smile. 

“All right this is it. Come on in. This is our main healer’s house, he should be able to give us some insight on what to do about the ship,” Torix explains, stepping inside the small hut, the beaded curtain dragging behind her. 

“Thanks,” I mumble to her, moving the beaded curtain back for Luke before following him inside the sandy coloured hut. 

I glance around, there are decorations hanging everywhere. Different charms and spells made from dried herbs and combined concoctions. I’ve only seen this type of magic in the Central dimension. Silently, I wonder to myself how someone here could know how to practice and use this type of magic. Maybe their visitor explained it. 

However, the magic dwindles in comparison to the man who steps into the room with us from behind another beaded curtain. 

Towers above us just like Torix and the two of them share the same dusty red complexion. He’s dressed head to toe and brightly coloured garments that show far too much skin for it to be acceptable in any other place. However, compared to Torix’s mesh shirt and the red belly-dancer pants, you could say he’s dressed modestly. 

The two begin to engage each other in modest conversation that’s incomprehensible to us.

“Torix, Torix, Torix, what did I tell you I’ll bring other people?” he scolds, shaking his head and making his top jingle quietly. 

“I know… But just hear me out. These guys appeared out of the sky just like he had and their ships broke, so I thought you might be able to help them. Seemed to be something magic,” Torix defends herself as the man crosses his arms over his chest. 

“Fine. I’ll see what I can do, but only since I owe you for the last time you helped me,” he grumbled, looking extremely bored already.  
“My sibling has told me to help you,” he turns and says to us in Ruliansh.

“Thank you, sir. My name’s Luke,” Luke says, extending his hand. 

The man takes it and shakes it slightly. 

“And I’m Lance. We were trying to get to the Central dimension when we accidentally found our way here instead. Our ship seems to be out of fuel as the jump here was fairly big and we don’t have any supplies to repair the damages that happened during the fall,” I explain to him, shaking his hand after Luke. 

“Name’s Fa’lien. We might have some supplies to fix your ship. I’d have to see it first though,” Fa’lien says.

“Well, thank you for lending your hand even if you can’t fix ‘er,” I reply, folding my arms across my chest, watching Luke out of the corner of my eye as he looks around the hut. 

“All right, well, let’s go see this ship,” Fa’lien groans.

“Umm about that… I put it in a pocket dimension so I need somewhere open to place it,” I explain, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly. 

“One of the town squares is open. We’ll put it there,” Fa’lien decides, exiting the hut.

We’re quick to follow him out, trailing behind him as we walk towards the town square. 

“So, why are you dimension hopping?” Fa’lien asks as we walk.

“Ah. Well. Luke and I are on it an adventure to find my father and my home,” I state, trying to keep it on the down-low in case anyone overhears us. 

“Well, that sounds like an absolutely divine adventure for you to rope this poor little guy into.” Fa’lien remarks. 

“He didn’t rope me in and I’m not that little!” Luke protests, crossing his arms and puffing out his chest to look more intimidating.

I laugh a little at the action but keep my mouth shut when he shoots me a glare and I finally notice that we’ve stopped. People have started to gathered around us with interest gleaming in their eyes. 

Well, if they want a show.

I walk forward into the middle of the square, summoning magic to my fingertips. I withdraw my sword and draw a magic circle around my feet, opening the same portal from before and carefully setting ship down in the middle of the square. I hear a few oo’s and ah’s from behind me and I grin. I’ve always loved showing off my magic to others.

Stepping back, I watch Fa’lien circles around the ship, examining it from each and every angle. When he returns, he looks like he’s got a plan in mind.

“All right, not the first time I’ve seen this model. We should be good. All I need is some wood and a bit of magic. Don’t come back until night,” he states confidently. 

Torix nods and starts to shuffle us away.

“Just don’t touch my shit!” I shout behind me as we walk off.

We follow Torix down the street she hops around from stall to stall with a big smile on her face. 

“Don’t let my brother bother you. He’s just stubborn, but he’s good at what he does so you don’t have to worry about your ship,” Torix assures us, picking up a sparkling gem from an ore stall. 

A soft chuckle escapes my lips and I shake my head at how carefree she is. As I look at the stall over her shoulder, I notice that her skin is slightly more red than grey in the sun. It’s almost whimsical. Her hair’s a shinier shade of grey, more platinum, contrasting against her horns and tail. 

I tug at the collar of my shirt as it gets increasingly hot the more we walk around in the desert sun. I notice Luke doing the same, his jeans are probably not the best option in our current situation 

“Do you guys need new clothes?” Torix asks, looking back at us and noticing how uncomfortably hot we’ve both become. 

“Fuck. Yeah…” I admit, rubbing the back of my neck and my hand coming away glistening with sweat. 

“Yes please,” Luke chirps beside me, giving her a pleading look with pleading eyes. 

God, I wish he’d look at me like that… 

“Okay, kind of figured so. You guys look like you’re one hundred thousand degrees and you’re going to pass out at any moment,” Torix states while we before waving his hand and saying “follow me”. 

She takes a turn down a new street, this one seems to be a fashion district. It resembles something I see sightseeing in the Eastern dimension, with all the clothes dazzling around us, brightly coloured fabrics with low cuts paint the streets as people dressed in even more brightly coloured clothes and skimpy outfits walked by us.

I see a few females with tops that barely cover anything, crystals and silks hanging across their torso’s. More than a couple of them have proudly displayed… piercings. As I look closer, I’m drawn into looking over bright tattoos of every colour dancing across their skin.

I look over at Torix. I see no hint of any tattoo on her body. As I’m looking, my eyes trailing over her, she notices me. I quickly turn away. 

“Not gonna find any tattoo’s here, that you can see,” she winks, “they clash with my style. But I bet that Luke’s got a few you don’t know off…” 

I look at her, my face flushing red. “That’s his business, not mine!” 

“I’m kidding! My species are born with markings, however, I’m a half-blood. But I’d rather not discuss that,” Torix says, turning away from us.

“Sorry for bringing it up,” I apologize, completely embarrassed by bringing it up.

“It’s fine.”  
Torix leans towards me, bringing me down by the collar. “Look, just between you and me, I know romance is hard, but to be fair you to do make a cute couple,” she teases, stopping at another stall to pick up a top that barely counts as clothes. 

I can see Luke’s face turn red up next to me, as he stares down at the ground, trying to ignore Torix.

“Well, anyway, pick out anything you’d like. I’ve got money, don’t worry,” Torix announces, before handing a few oddly shaped coins over to the vendor of the shop that she’d been examining. 

“All right,” Luke mumbles before walking off down the street. 

I’m trailing slightly behind him as a glance at the stalls around, me. I manage to pick up a few different things as well as taking the few Luke hands me as he piles up on a bit of local colour. He was always the one with the fashion taste.


	7. Temples and Homosexual Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!! There is consensual nudity in this chapter. No sex, just people being naked and dirty thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The slanted text means they're speaking in another language!
> 
> Also, Lance is very, very fucking pansexual and pining.

We ended up settling on something closer to our usual style mixed with a small bit of local colour. I step out of my dressing room, dressed in my old shirt, except it’s unbuttoned all the way, tucked into a pair of light blue pants that are similar to Torix’s. 

I turn around just in time to see Luke exit his dressing room, he’s dressed with a bit more local colour than I am. 

He’s wearing a flowing lime-green skirt-like covering that hugs his mid-waist with a long cut all the way down the middle, coming down to his ankles. Underneath he’s wearing a pair of tight white leggings. His top is more similar to ones I saw the females wearing earlier, two pieces of silk that drop down from his shoulders and cross over each other underneath his pecs, showing off scars underneath them, and his gold tattoo’s. On the silk, small jewels hang off that jingle as he walks. 

My jaws on the floor. He’s stunning, so very stunning. 

_ Jeez, he’s just… UHHHHHHHHHHH!!! _

I realize I’m staring when Torix coughs beside me. He’s looking at us with pride in his eyes.

“Turns out you do know how to dress,” he compliments. 

“Thank you,” Luke chirps, “the fashion here is very comfortable.” 

I’m adjusting the hem of the pants, “Yeah… it’s alright…” I reply, pulling at the pants, trying to fix them. 

“Oh come on, you like it. No one’s gonna judge you here, I mean, you should’ve seen me when I was 20, I don’t think I wore more than underwear those days…” he muses. 

“Nice,” I mumble, attempting to putting up my hair in a brand new bandana that I had collected. It loops around my head, matching the braided flowers that I had woven in earlier.

“So what now?” Luke asks, looking up at Torix to see if he has any ideas. 

“Well… you can’t come here and not expect to have the grand tour!” he announces with a huge smile on his face. 

“We can’t walk around the world in a day,” I state. 

_ Is this guy insane?  _

“You can walk around the world in a day,” he corrects me, putting emphasis on ‘can’. “Our worlds smaller than average, so yes you can walk the world in a day.” 

I sigh, admitting defeat as Luke speaks up, telling Torix how much he’d love to see the world and that it’s an excellent idea. I tune them out as we walk past people down the streets, watching the different vendors and shops that we pass. 

I find myself lost in thought, about Luke, about the situation, about Torix, about home, about finding my father, about Luke… 

_ Why do I keep thinking of him?  _

I sigh again, deciding to watch Luke and Torix as we walk, my eyes trained on Luke. 

As I’m watching the street, I notice something interesting. There seem to be no cars, no motorized transportation… “Does everyone just walk here?” I ask, looking up at Torix and hoping he’ll give me an actual answer. 

“Yep, everyone walks. We don’t need to get around much, so there’s no need for anything else.”

“Huh, that’s pretty cool. Reminds me of  _ Asteria _ ,” I muse to myself as Torix leads us through the town towards a large building.

Trees lean towards the building with light purple leaves gathered on the top that fan out, shading Akders of all ages resting underneath them, reading scrolls and book.

The building has steps leading up towards it that are separated by a platform in the middle. It looks to be made of the same material the houses are made of, but with vines wrapped around large pillars that hold up a dome made from coloured glass. In the center of the building is a tall statue of a crouched deity, their robes of silk falling off their nude body as they kneel down, large bird-like wings stretched out behind them.

“This is our Temple, please be respectful while here. That means no swearing, I’m looking at you Lance,” Torix teases as he leads us up to the statue.

“It’s quite lovely in here,” Luke comments as the stained glass dance patterns across the floor in front of us.

“Mhm, the whole temple is dedicated to our god, Edos. They’re the god of Dreams and Guidance. People come from many villages to leave offerings for them,” Torix explains, pulling out a sparkling piece of metal and gems from his hair and crouching down in front of the statue.

We watch as he performs the offering, waiting for him to speak again.

“We always leave offerings when we visit. We haven’t always been able to live in this sort of luxury. Long ago Volanilum decided we were nothing more than works of art and we lost a lot of our culture and traditions, including records of deities, as we were sold off and bred like animals. However, it’s been a long time since then, and we’ve made amends and now own our own rights,” Torix explains, guiding us farther through the temple.

“That must’ve been awful,” Luke comments as I struggle to respond.

“It was, my brother lived through the ends of it, I didn’t have too, I was too little to remember. However, we don’t know where our parents wound up. Neither of them wanted anything to do with us. I guess most of the pairs they bred want nothing to do with their offspring or past partners,” Torix mused, stopping at an archway, obscuring our view inside.

“I know how that feels man,” I sigh, fiddling with my hair.

“Nonetheless, we can’t just mope around all day! Especially not in Edos temple! I hope you two will join me in a ritual. All you need to do is put on these silk robes and lounge in a pool for a bit of time,” Torix explains, gesturing to some translucent robes hanging just past the archway.

“Of course,” Luke replies, stepping past Torix to grab a robe for himself.

I go along with this, and the three of us change in the open walkway into the robes, leaving our clothes in cubbies built into the wall.

Torix leads us out into the next chamber where a large pool filled with several groups of Akders, and a few others who don’t quite look like Akders are resting, eating fruits from large dishes on the sides of the pool and having pleasant conversations.

All of them are wearing the same robes in different shades and different colours. I advert my eyes from them so I don’t get caught staring at their bodies for too long only to find my gaze resting on Torix’s junk. 

The very sight of it makes me blush and turn away again, only for my gaze to rest on another Akder, this time their breasts.

Torix must’ve caught my frantic attempts at keeping decent and laughed.

“Come on, let’s get into the pool,” he chuckles, patting me on the back. “It’s not that weird, they’re staring at you too.”

Blush seeps across my face as I sink into the pool with him and Luke. Luke seems surprisingly comfortable, gazing around and plucking an oval-shaped fruit the colour of a sunset out of a bowl.

I relax and take in the sights idly as Torix explains to Luke how to eat the fruit. It’s not until Luke hands me a piece that I rejoin the conversation.

“Thanks,” I mumble, popping the slice into my mouth. It instantly dissolves in my mouth and I have to stifle a moan. It tastes like pure ecstasy and cherry wine on a summer beach.

Beside me, Torix chuckles.

“Enjoying the fruit?”

“Y-yeah…” I stutter as Luke passes me another piece. 

“Hey, Torix?” Luke says, catching the other man’s attention.

“Hm?”

“Why do some people have, you know, horns, and others, have two sets of arms?”

Once Luke points it out, I notice it too, some of the other patrons have larger and thicker tails, as well as two sets of arms and legs that resemble animal-folk legs, less human and more bent. Their skin tones are darker and more brown than the Akders, and no horns are on their heads. Some of the adults even have white patterns on their bodies, however the young don’t, unlike some of the Akder who have white patterns even when young.

“Ah, you see, those are the Deharans. They’re the tribes that live in the grasslands, some of them like to come to our temples and even live in our cities, but some just visit for ceremonies and other things. There’s more of them today because tonight is an important night,” Torix starts, grabbing himself something that resembles a blackberry but a soft yellow shade instead.

“Oh, what’s happening tonight?” Luke urges, taking the berry that Torix hands him.

“Tonight’s the marriage between one of our young prince and a chief’s daughter, er, son. Sorry, it’s a recent development,” Torix corrects himself, and I see Luke’s eyes widening.

“You have trans people here too!?” Luke exclaims happily.

“You could put it that way. Though we don’t really put a label on it. He’s undergone a few things in the past couple weeks, including having a special spell from Fa’lien to alter his chest.”

“Woah, Fa’lien can do that?” Luke breathes in amazement.

“Mhm, something he’s learnt over the years. Usually, he only does it when he has a donor to receive them.”

“So how does the prince feel about this?” I ask, butting into the conversation.

Torix is about to answer when an Akder sits down next to Luke on the curve of the pool.

His dazzling pale purple skin is adorned with large white circles on his shoulders, knees, and several other patterns throughout his body, at the top of his head, appears to be a dot with two lines starting an inch away and wrapping around his head like a crown. Long white hair fans out into the water around us and two twin tails with a heart-shaped end curl around him loosely.

However, when he speaks, I can’t understand what he’s saying. I look at Torix for help. He simply looks back to the man and says something in the same tongue. The other man seems to nod in understanding.

“I am sorry. I said that I feel ecstatic I’m getting my partner in his true form, I’m extremely proud of him.” The stranger smiles.

“How do you speak my tongue?!” I ask in alarmed shock. It was one thing for Torix to speak Ruliansh, but for the newcomer to speak it as well is almost too much.

“I learnt it from another traveller. All of the royal family knows Ruliansh,” the man states, bowing his head slightly. “It might not be good, but I speak the tongue.”

“Your majesty, you must forgive him, these are the two visitors,” Torix is quick to chirp.

“I have heard, Luke and Lance right?” he asks, his voice carrying through the air lightly.

“That’s right.” I nod in confirmation.

“Lovely, how long do you plan on staying?” he begins to question as someone sits down next to him, between him and Luke

His light brown skin is only slightly lighter than Lances and he’s decorated on his shoulders and knees just like the prince except on the side of his jaw he has two triangles and around his wrists are one cuff and a disconnected cuff, this pattern is also on his ankles and down his tail. Short black hair is pulled away from his face in a ponytail.

They begin to speak briefly to each other.

_ “Honey, stop bothering the visitors. They’re guests, they don’t need to answer every question you have, _ ” he sighs, resting in the pool and curling up against the prince.

_ “I know, but it’s just so fascinating to me…” _

_ “I’m Moki by the way, and this is Anthonis, in case he hasn’t mentioned it yet.”  _ He speaks in another language I don’t understand. _ “Do you mind answering a few questions though? We never get visitors…” _

I blink at him, unable to understand what he has said. “What my future husband said is, he is Moki and my name is Anthonis. I forget to mention. He doesn’t speak Ruliansh, but he has a few questions to ask you,” Anthonis translates for him.

“Of course, what would you like to know?” I ask, getting more comfortable and trying to pretend like this man isn’t sitting in his partner’s lap the day they’re meant to get married, and I must speak to his husband to tell him anything.

The day slips by us as we happily answer questions for the couple, with Torix and Anthonis acting as translators for Luke and I, until two parties enter the pool and pull the couple away and apart. Torix tells us that’s our cue to get up and go get ready for the ceremony so we follow him out of the temple, retrieving our clothes and placing our dirty robes in a basket with other robes.

We take time to stop by Fa’lien and collect him, as well as check on how our ship is coming along. He seems to have found Blix and is happily playing with the tiny dragon as he works.

We get him new clothes for the ceremony and then the four of us head down to the part of town where the wedding’s being held.


	8. What you see isn't always true

Once we arrive at the gathering, we’re met with new colours and scents as groups gather around low tables that have different scented incense burning in a colourful bowl. Torix leads us over to a table closer to the grooms’ table and motions for us to sit on the plush cushions laid around the table.

“So, how does this work?” Luke asks, taking a seat in between me and Torix.

“Simple, our priest says a few words and then their priest says a few words and then together they wed the couple. Once that’s done, we feast and party until morning!” Torix explains excitedly as he unrolls a mat made from bluegrass in front of him.

“That sounds like so much fun! I’m glad we can be a part of it,” Luke says politely as Fa’lien gestures for us to copy him and Torix and unroll our own mats.

“I’m glad you’re so excited. It’s always fun to have new visitors with us when we hold ceremonies,” Fa’lien replies, smiling slightly.

“Torix, you mentioned a different species earlier in the temple, Volanilum. Is anyone here attending the ceremony from that species?” I ask, looking over at him.

He shakes his head, frowning. 

“The Queen forbid any of us inviting them to our ceremonies. She doesn’t trust them enough yet, not after what they did.”

“Fair enough, I wouldn’t either,” Luke comments.

I’m about to say something when Fa’lien shushes us. 

“It’s starting,” he whispers and we turn our attention towards the center aisle of the gathering.

At the end of the aisle stands Anthonis, his hair has been braided above his head in a large crown with flowers of rainbow colouring and two burning incense sticks are in the back of his hair, holding it together. He’s dressed in a long black robe of opaque silk that flows out at the waist into a large skirt. As he walks down the aisle, a soft tune starts to play.

The tune continues till he’s at the center of the gathering, standing on a slightly raised pedestal with two other people. One looks to be Deharan and the other looks to be Akder. Both are dressed in bright clothes and sparkling gems, but no flowers.

The music dies down and we’re almost drawn back into our conversation before it starts back up again. This time Moki is standing at the end of the aisle. His black hair has brilliant white flowers woven into it, and a crown of rainbow flowers sits around his head. Under his eyes are stripes of white paint that weren’t there earlier. He’s dressed in the same robe as Anthonis is.

He reaches the pedestal and Anthonis takes his hands.

“Dearly devoted, we are gathered here today to join these two souls in life and death before Edos,” the Akderian priest starts, smiling brightly at everyone. She carries on in her speech, talking about how happy they’ll be. She closes it with a prayer to Edos, and Luke and I copy Torix and Fa’lien as they bow their heads and join hands in a circle around the table.

“Thank you Etheos,” the Deharan priest starts, “that was lovely. We are also here to join them underneath the caring watch of our Ancestors in hopes that they’ll have a long and healthy life together…” the second priest continues on, also closing their speech with a prayer of health, we copy Torix again as he puts the tips of his fingers together and closes his eyes.

“You may now join yourselves,” the priests say, stepping back.

We watch as Moki reaches up and pulls the two sticks out of Anthonis hair, handing one to Anthonis. My nerves spike as he holds the smoking end of the stick to Anthonis’ robe and it goes up in flames. 

Anthonis starts spinning around as the dress burns around him and changes into something new! When he stops spinning he’s dressed in a white translucent robe that clings to his body and trails behind him. Gold trim rest around his neck and at the end of his sleeves. 

He reaches forward and holds his own stick to Moki’s robe and Moki repeats the action, finishing dressed in a similar robe as Anthonis. There’s a gold belt around his natural waist that seems to separate the top and bottom of the robe.

“What’s everyone waiting for?! Let’s celebrate!” Anthonis cheers, scooping up his groom and carrying him over to the large table where what looks to be family members of the two of them are sitting.

Around us, people lift chalices glass filled with purple liquid that are being passed out by Akders.

I take a sip of the liquid when it reaches me, per Torix’s instruction, as I’m watching the wedded couple. Something catches my eye as Anthonis turns to his left and kisses another Akder. Her lime green hair is cut close to her head in a pixie cut and her gold eyes sparkle as he presses the kiss to her pale pink skin. She pauses her conversation with the Akder next to her and turns to kiss him again.

“Hey, Torix, what’s that about?” I ask as he turns to look at what I’m watching.

“Do you guys not have polyamory where you come from?” he questions, blinking at me as she resumes talking to her neighbour.

“We do, I just didn’t think that Anthonis was…”

“It’s what makes him happy, Moki has other partners too,” Torix shrugs. 

“Is he going to marry his other partners too?” Luke asks, jumping into the conversation.

“That’s up to him. Weddings don’t usually matter unless it’s for political reasons, so they’re moving in with their partners in a large house they had built between the savannah and the desert,” Fa’lien explains, passing me what looks to be a cross between a pig and a squirrel.

“For now, I think he’s happy.”

“Oh, okay. That’s pretty cool. I’ll have to ask for some advice on that, they seem really happy,” I comment absent-mindedly, digging into the food that’s been piling up on my plate.

“Good for you.” Fa’lien smiles, showing me how to use the utensils that have been set out for us.

“So Lance, where are you planning to go next?” Torix asks as he starts to eat his food as well.

I finish chewing on the meat that Fa’lien had passed me. “Damn this stuff’s good… I don’t know, probably central dimension, why?” 

“It’s boring here… would you mind if I tagged along?” Torix requests timidly, looking down at his plate.

I look over at Luke and Fa’lien. Luke nods at me excitedly.

“He’s always mentioned travelling. It would be good for him,” Fa’lien comments. 

I was going to say yes whether they agreed or not.

“Well of course! You should definitely come!” I exclaim, patting him on the back.

He beams at me.

“Fa’lien, can we leave Blix with you though? It’s hard to take care of them and they seem to be at home here,” Luke says, taking a sip from his chalice.

“Of course, I’d be happy to have a new companion. Besides, dragons are easier than brothers,” Fa’lien chuckles.

“BROTHER!” Torix protests, spitting out his drink in surprise.

“Relax, I’m teasing you. But you have to admit, you are a handful.”

Torix grumbles and finishes his drink as we laugh.

“I propose a toast, to the newlyweds and new adventures!” I say drunkenly, raising my glass up high.

“HERE HERE!” the others cheer, raising their glasses as well.

It takes a few more days for the ship to be fixed. During this time Torix takes us all sorts of places, from the newlywed’s house to other temples around the desert. We participate in many different ceremonies and offerings for the gods and meet so many new people. By the time we’re ready to leave we’ve acquired a new closet of clothes and a wider taste in food.

On the day of our departure, the newlyweds and half the city come to see us off. We wave goodbye to Fa’lien as the ship drops through the portal to the Central dimension.


	9. Pink Viola's and Red Wine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the Central Dimension!

My eyes blinked as they adjusted to my new surroundings. I, no… we did it! We got to Central finally! Finally, I can speak in Ruliansh and not have to worry about needing a translator or speaking in a broken tongue for (most of) my conversations!

I laugh happily, running my hand up through my hair, combing it away from my eyes and back under my bandana as I let my magic cool down and recharge. I turn back to my friends, with a wide smile on my face. 

“Alright, who’s ready to be amazed?” I ask, clapping my hands together as Luke and Torix stare back at me, wide-eyed.

Luke’s the first to speak up, rushing over to the rail of the ship and staring over the edge into the starry abyss around us as neon-aqua jellyfish float idly by.   
“This is fascinating,” he breathes, staring at the neon coloured creatures as an orange troat swims up to him and under his hand.

A smirk manifests itself on my lips. “Of course it is, we’re in the Central Dimension. Here, no one died from a rampaging plague and eventually, space-stations were built and a whole colony was developed,” I explain, walking over and standing next to him as a purple otter swims up to him, a lime-green shell in its paws, several others in tow. 

Torix coughs from where he’s leaning against the mast, behind us. “So boss, where we headed?” he asks.

“Ah yes, glad you asked,” I start, moving to the middle of the ship, “we are headed to the main colony, a space-station called Asteria Colony. It was the first colony built and orbits closest to the planet. It also has the highest diversity out of all the stations here.” I point to a large orb suspended in the ‘sky’, with ships moving in and out of the many docks. 

“Holy shit,” Luke breathes, staring at the station as we grow closer and closer.

We stand in silence for a few seconds until we’re docking. 

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. There’s a warrant out for my arrest, slash head on a silver platter, dead or alive kinda deal… but don’t worry, we’re going to places that they don’t check anyway… hopefully…” I smile, as I hop down, tethering the ship into the dock as Torix and Luke de-board. After they’re off, I pop it away in a pocket dimension so it’s not stolen. 

“Lance… what did you do?” Luke asks, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I just took what was rightfully mine.” I shrug my shoulders before grabbing his hand. “But that doesn’t matter, we’ve got business to attend to!”

I can hear Luke’s protests and questions, as well as Torix, chiming in to comment but I’m to concentrated on winding through the stairs and up into the back alleys of Asteria without being caught. 

When we’ve finally reached one of the more dangerous crossings, I turn around and press my finger to my lips with a broad smile on my face, telling them to be silent. They hush-up perfectly and my smile broadens.

Carefully, I take Luke’s hand, poke my head out into the street to check for guards, and dash across once I make sure the coast is clear, nearly running into a short, red-bearded dwarf carrying a futuristic battle-axe. 

“Sorry,” I chirp, as I duck into the alley, Luke and Torix hot on my heels. 

I should’ve noticed then when the hairs stood up on the back of my neck and the feeling of being watched dawned on me, that we were being followed. But I stupidly shook it off like some child chasing after candy.

We reach the inn relatively quickly, keeping an eye out for soldiers on our way so we don’t lead them or get caught. I know the way like the back of my hand, I used to sneak off here while Xzavis was in meetings and have some fun. I would almost always get arrested. Almost.

I push open the door to the familiar building and step inside, Luke and Torix trailing close behind me.

The moment I’m inside, I hear my name called and some cheers (and a few jeers). The bartender smiles at me and a few tables are calling me over for drinks and fun. I wave them off politely, pointing to the two behind me. 

I head towards the bartender through the sea of tipsy drunkards. He’s my closest friend here, a young dragon. He mostly stays in human form with his blue horns and tail displayed proudly. The crowd lets us through with ease, apart from the few I have to bat away when they try to pull at Torix and Luke for god knows why. A shiver runs down my spine at the thought.

“Ycee, how’s it going?” I ask, leaning against the bar in between two stools.

“It’s going well, better now that you’re back… how long you in town?” he inquires, polishing the glass he was washing and placing it back on the shelf.

“Ah you know, day or two, can’t stay long or Xzavis might catch me,” I reply casually, almost feeling the look that both Torix and Luke give the back of my head.

“Right. It seems you brought some friends with you, you guys gonna order anything?” he asks, reaching for a new glass.

“Yup! I’ll take my usual,” I tell him before turning around, “Luke do you want Flaming Snowball again?”

“No thanks, do you have any red wine?” he asks Ycee.

Ycee nods, getting out a wine glass and pours him a glass. 

“Torix what about you?” I ask, taking my glass from Ycee as he hands me my drink.

His eyes are scanning the back wall, but there’s a puzzled look on his face. “Ummm… I don’t see anything I know… what do you recommend?”

“For you? Probably the Strawberry Dark Ale,” Ycee suggests, leaning against his elbow and staring at Torix. I’ve seen that look before, they used to give it to Ashir… but that was a long time ago.

Torix pauses for a moment, holding Ycee’s gaze, I give Luke a look and he snickers. We wait for them to finish their little mind conversation by taking our drinks and finding a table.

“So… how is that you always know every bartender and inn-keeper we go to?” Luke asks as he sits down next to me on the bench. 

“Well, you see, I’ve been all over,” I start, leaning back against the wall. “After a while, you get to know a lot of people. But you already know this, why are you asking me again?”

“I… would you believe me if I said I just wanted to hear you speak?” Luke admits, rubbing the back of his neck and giving me a shy smile. 

I can feel the soft dusting of red starting to colour my cheeks so I reach down and chug back half my drink, hoping he won’t notice. When I finish, I lean back on the bench, my back against the wall behind us.

“After a while, you start mapping out which places you can go without being turned in, and who you can trust. So I really just know which places to go, and I don’t know everyone. It’s called having contacts,” I explain, watching the people around us as Torix makes his way back over to us.

“It’s still cool,” he mumbles, swirling his wine before taking a sip.

“What’s cool?” Torix asks, sitting down across from us, a wide grin on his lips.

“Lance was just going to tell us the story behind his ship!” Luke exclaims before I can get a word in. 

Torix stares at me with an ecstatic look on his face.  
“Really?!”

I sigh, resigning myself. I’m not getting out of this one easily.  
“Fine, fine… but only because you asked so nicely.”

“Yay!” They cheer as the pair of them make themselves a bit more comfortable.

“So, there I was, staring at my ex-lover, Xzavis. He’d just struck me across the face for the last time…”  
_____________________

I blinked at him.

He’s glaring back at me.  
“Don’t ever disrespect me like that again brat. I’m done with you soiling my reputation in public,” he spits the words out, turning to leave, expecting me to follow like the good bitch he wants.

“No.” I stand my ground and fold my arms across my chest.

“What did you say? I’ve had enough disrespect for one day,” he growls, turning around and glaring me down.

“I said no. I’m not your bitch to use as you please. I’m done Xzavis. We’re done.” I start walking towards the street and out fo the alley.

“You can’t. You have nothing without me,” he states, grabbing my arm.

I rip my arm back and continue walking, ignoring him.

“Where are you going to go?!” He calls as I walk out to the street and down towards the docks.

I stay silent, focusing on getting away before he runs after me.

“CHERRY!” He calls from the street, I can feel people turn to glance at me.

I don’t bother stopping, instead, I start running. My feet going faster and faster on the pavement. I snatched his key, I have to get as far away as I can before he notices.

I make it down to the docks before the guards are on me. By the time they’ve almost caught up to me, I have the ship started. 

“TELL XZAVIS HE CAN SUCK ON THIS!!” I call down to the guards, flipping them off as the ship blips through a portal I made. I don’t really care where I go, as long as it’s not here.

* * *

“And that’s pretty much it. ‘Haven’t seen Xzavis after that. My career was on leave before that anyways. He was mad because I took a leave of absence because I planned to propose to him while on vacation. I still have the ring.” I reach down my shirt and draw out a brilliant ring.

It’s a gold band with elven diamonds arranged to look like a flower with leaves sprouting from the sides. I don’t know why I’m admitting this, maybe its partially due to the alcohol, or the building guilt.

“Lance, you never told me that part,” Luke whispers, cradling the ring in his hands.

My mind wanders into thoughts of giving Luke the ring, maybe he’d accept it if I… I could only hope.

“Do you regret it?” Torix asks, rocking me out of my thoughts.

“I… What?”

“Not giving Xzavis the ring.”

“No. I don’t. Looking back now, he was just a shitty person.”   
So was Wesley. I think to myself.

“Good. It’s never healthy to have regrets over past lovers.”

“Past lovers? Who ‘we talking about?” Ycee asks as he slides down onto the bench as well.

“Lance was talking about Xzavis,” Luke whispers, letting go of the ring and watching it fall back against my chest.

“Ah, I remember Xzavis… he was a piece of work.”

I let the conversation fade away as I listen to music in the background. The band up on stage is faltering, they look exhausted and in need of a break. Wordlessly I stand up and walk towards the stage.

“Hey, you guys need a break?” I ask, leaning against the stage as they finish their song. 

The lead singer crouches down to talk to me.  
“Holy shit you’re Cherry Pop! What are you doing here?”

“Eh, just thought I’d pop in,” I wink at her. “I’d be happy to play a song if you guys need some water. I know how tough it is to play for the whole time.”

“Yeah, if you’d like that would be great,” she says, offering me a hand up on stage.

I take it and she pulls me up, and I look out over the sea of people in the bar. 

“You sure you’re okay doing this?” she asks me.

“Yeah, of course. You guys have a guitar I can borrow?”

“Use mine,” the lead guitarist offers, holding out xyrs guitar to me.

“Thanks, now go get some water. I’ll hold down the fort for a bit.”

The band nods and the four of them head off stage, leaving me standing up there alone.

“Good evening people! Tonight’s band agreed to let me entertain you guys for a little while, so I hope you like this,” I say into the mic as heads turn to me, and a few gasps leave the crowd.

I don’t wait for cheers, I just let my fingers slide over the guitar as music fills the Inn. “...Oh, I remember the nights slipping by, as you held me like a bag of sand… you’re touch used to be God’s gift, but now it’s never missed…!”

My feet move on their own, dancing around the stage as the solo of the song starts up, I move around, bouncing and swaying as my fingers glide across the strings. It feels so good to play for an audience again.

I’m in the middle of the third song when the band returns. I hear them join in and take over as the song finishes.

“That was Cherry Pop folks, let’s give him a round of applause for his performance,” the singer says into the mic as I hand the lead xyrs guitar back.

“Can you sigh it for me?” Xe asks, holding a marker out to me. 

“Of course,” I chirp, taking the marker and singing across the guitar.

“Thank you!” Xe calls to me over the roar of the audience as I walk off stage.

Ycee’s at the bottom to meet me with a cold beer.

“That was great man! Come on, let’s go celebrate!”

“You got it!” I cheer, taking the beer from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obligatory, comment, kudos and subscribe! I make sure to reply to every comment. Even if you want to scream at me, I will respond.


	10. Mind Your Tongue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've decided to post all the chapters for this work in bulk. It's completed and I can't hold myself back any longer. 
> 
> Get ready for some god damn ANGST with a happy ending

The next morning, I decided to take Luke and Torix on a tour of Asteria and show them all the sights and trouble I’d get into when I was here. Of course, Ycee decided to tag along with us, claiming that he knew the city better. I made sure he didn’t work till eight before agreeing he could come with us.

Like always, we found ourselves wandering aimlessly. During this wandering, we made our way to the heart of Asteria, a street full of bakeries, tea shops, and clothing stores that transformed into nightclubs and clothing-optional clubs once night fell.

I’m standing next to Luke looking through a rack of new jeans with a pair of blood-red, high-waisted jeans in my hand when a voice whispers in my ear.

“When someone told me that a drunken red-head was singing in P.V. last night I almost didn’t believe them… until now.”

I whip around to see them standing next to me. Their pastel-pink hair cascading down their shoulders, standing out against the black leather of their jacket. I look down and they’re wearing a modified version of my old performance pants.

“Crimson!” I squeal with joy, flinging my arms around happy and spinning them around a couple of times.

“Lancy, I missed ya!” they laugh as I spin them, steadying themself once I put them down.

“How’d you find me?” I ask once I’ve calmed down.

“Well it wasn’t hard, Ycee’s been posting on his page all day,” they explain, looking over at Torix and Luke.  
“And you two must be the Torix and Luke I’ve been reading about all day!” they stick their hand out to Luke and he shakes it with a big smile on his face, “I’m so glad to meet you and see that Lancy finally found love.”

Luke goes beat red and looks down, I cough out of embarrassment hoping they’d get the hint.

“Oh! You’re not? But I thought… Ycee you asshole!” they turn to Ycee and give him the look.

“Hey, I didn’t say anything but that they looked like a cute couple,” Ycee protests, “But look at him, he’s clearly in love with him… It’s even affecting me how much they’re pining after each other,” he says in a hushed voice that I can’t make out.

“Yeah, it’s been like that for days now,” Torix grumbles, adding into the conversation.

“Well… I’ve got a plan but I’m going to need your guy’s help…” Crimson starts, motioning them to move in.

I don’t pay much mind to their conversation as I talk to Luke, ordering the two of us some lunch from a food vendor nearby. 

The foods three different coloured balls of dough on a skewer filled with different fillings. I watch as Luke smiles and obsesses over how good the food is before he pulls out a notebook and jots down something.

Eventually, they rejoin the two of us.

“Lance, how would you like to do a concert with me tonight? I’ve already booked the place because today’s the end of my tour and I’d absolutely love for you to help finish it with a bang,” Crimson proposes, giving me a smile. 

I smile from cheek to cheek. “Hell yeah I’d love to get back on a stage with you,” I lean down close to their ear, “you were always so fun to perform with. Maybe we’ll have some time to do our own private encore afterwards?”

They blush, stumbling through their words. “Maybe we will.”  
“But first, we need to get you a costume!”

We walk off and Luke immediately comes up to my side and walks with the two of us.

“Maybe you could let me join in on the encore?” he squeaks, looking hopefull.

Butterflies flutter in my stomach as I look down at him and blush heavily.  
“Y-yeah if you wanted too,” I stutter, trying to hide my face casually.

“Of course you can,” Crimson says, coming up behind him, “A cutie like you would definitely make a great encore fantastic.”

He squeaks as they squeeze his butt and his face goes bright red.

“Oh come on Crimson, lay it off, he’s just a baby,” I scold them, putting my arm around his shoulders, “Now come on, where are we getting this fucking costume?”  
_____________________

“Ready?” Crimson asked, throwing a look over their shoulder at me.

I run my hand through my hair, fussing over my costume once more, the tight, patched jeans clinging to me like spandex and crushing my junk. I shift it for the fiftieth time, before popping the collar of my leather jacket upwards. “Ready.” I nod at Crimson.

They reply with a smile and walk off to their own side of the stage, giving the signal to the stage manager that we’re ready.

I take a deep breath as music starts and I hear Crimson beginning to sing behind the stage with me. And I realize which one they chose. It’s the one we wrote for our first album together, right after our careers sky-rocketed off the ground.

“Settle down, settle down, they told us we’d never amount to anything, but can they see us now…?” 

I can hear the crowd roar as they walk on stage, and they boom even louder when they start the chorus. I take a deep breath as the chorus comes to a close and wait for a brief moment before joining in with the second verse on my own.

“We got out, we got out, from that deadbeat town trying to keep us down, with only a diamond ring to our name…” 

After the first three lines, I can hear the roars, as they sing the song as well, I throw back the curtain and the stage lights hit me. The roar of the crowd consumes me as I walk to my spot on the stage, hitting the chorus.

The rest of the song blurs together as Crimson and I finish the lyrics like it’s only the two of us there on the stage.

Once we’re done, we let the fans cheer us out as we catch our breath. 

“Good evening Asteria! How’s everyone doing tonight?” Crimson starts into their mic, a smile beaming on their faces.

They’re met with cheers in response.

“Well, it sounds like they’re doing great,” I reply, chuckling into my mic. “It’s a pleasure for you all to have us here tonight when Crimson asked me to join, I didn’t think I should because Xzavis might get jealous. However, they convinced me otherwise. I hope you all enjoy it!”

“So, how about some more music?”

There’s a roaring response and I look over at Crimson as the stagehand comes to grab the guitar and replace it with an electric.

As I start the first tune, the concert turns into a blur of Crimson and I dancing around each other. My eyes linger on her body as she prances around the stage effortlessly. Her voice is like warm honey, sticking to my heart as she enraptures me over and over again and I find myself skipping beats and almost missing words as I’m lost in her.

I beam happily at the audience as they cheer after we wrap up the “closing” song. Crimson and I dramatically walk off stage. As we do the audience starts chanting for an encore. I know exactly what song I want to play, I look over at Crimson for approval. They nod.

Carefully I take an acoustic guitar from its case and walk back onstage as a stagehand places a mic stand center stage. 

“Come on, did you really think we’d go without saying goodbye?”

The crowd cheers a roaring “NO” in response.

“Good, cause I have one last song for you tonight. Please enjoy.” 

The crowds cheering and roaring as I wrap my hand around the neck of the guitar and lean into the mic. 

“Oh I’m twelve stories up, I’ve been free-falling for a while… so God, make this work… but if you can’t, just make it painless… cause fuck this’ll hurt...” My voice slips off my tongue, rolling into the mic and my fingers glide across the strings as my eyes search the crowd for him… Luke.

I can’t find the words to say this too him, can’t find the moment to tell him that feels right. I wrote this song years ago when I was his apprentice. He helped me through so much, and the song was for him. I’ve played it countless times around him… but I never said who the song was for. He never asked.

As I search the crowd, my eyes land on Luke. He’s leaning over the edge of a railing, staring down at me with Ycee’s hand over his mouth. I can see Ycee looking around, making sure no one’s looking at them. 

He told him.

The look on his face is petrifying and I find myself frozen on the stage, the words still leaving my lips and my fingers still numbly strumming the chords. However, inside me, I’m fighting the urge to go to him. To run. To hide from it all.

The song finishes and Crimsons standing next to me, resting her hand on my shoulder. She leans in close and whispers into my ear.  
“Come on Lance, let’s wrap this up.”

I look over at her and nod before looking at Luke and mouthing “be patient.”

The crowds roaring underneath us during the short exchange.

“Well, babies, did you enjoy that? I forgot the rush of playing for you all on stage,” I speak into the mic as Crimson stands next to me.

The crowd cheers back in reply.

“Thank you all so much for coming, get home safely it’s dark out,” Crimson says into the mic and we walk off stage to the sound of a roaring crowd.  
_____________________

Crimson takes my hand and leads me through the slowly growing wave of V.I.P.’s as the nerves bubble up in my throat. We walk through the sea of people towards our dressing room. I listen as she stops next to the bodyguard next to the door to tell him that no one is allowed in, not even Ycee, Torix or Luke.

I wish I could thank her for that but the words catch in my throat.

We step into the room and I immediately collapse on the couch.

“He hates me,” I groan into the crushed red velvet pillow.

“He doesn’t hate you, Lance,” Crimson sighs as she undoes my bun and lets my hair down for me.

“Yes, he does. I confessed on stage to him. He probably feels obligated to say yes to me.” I can feel the tears pricking at the corner of my eyes. I don’t want to force him into something he doesn’t want.

“Lance-” Crimson starts to say something to me but her wrist starts to ring. She clicks on the blue bar inside her flesh and her phone pops up, displaying the holographic screen with her managers name on it. “Sorry, it’s my manager, I have to take it. You know how they are.”

I mumble an incoherent response as she picks up her phone, the sound of Selven’s voice filling the room.

“Crimson, honey, that was great, thank you for bringing my star back to the stage,” Selven croons, I can hear a secondary tone behind their sugary sweet one, but it’s hard to pinpoint.

“I just ran into him and asked if he wanted to. I didn’t do much. You know how Lance is,” she replies, talking as if I’m not her. She always does this, turns on speaker mode when they call and I’m around. She doesn’t like talking to them and they always creep her out.  
I don’t know why she kept them as her manager.

“Well, whatever you did doesn’t matter. I don’t need you anymore.”

I blink and sit up, glancing over at Crimson sitting on the plush armchair next to me. She looks back at me with the same shocked expression.

“I’m sorry?” she asks when she finally finds her voice again.

“Face it Crimson. I only had you as a client because you came with Lance. After he left I knew you’d be the one to bring him back, so I kept you so I could easily scoop him back up. No one really wants to work with a slut like you.”

Crimson’s looking at me in shock, her mouth is hanging open and I can see the tiny tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

“Like hell you will,” I growl loud enough for them to hear before she can even respond.

“Lance! I didn’t know you were there too,” Selven’s nervous voice says through the phone.

“Of course you didn’t Selven. You never asked. All you care about is yourself. We’re done with you. I quit a long time ago and you know it, the fact you used my friend in hopes I’d crawl back to a low life like you is pathetic, even for you. We quit.”

“Now Lance, let’s talk about this, you can’t just quit on me. I didn’t really mean those things.”

“If you didn’t mean them, then you shouldn’t have said them. Goodbye.”


	11. Idiots In A Bar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter serves as a warning for the next chapter.

I look over at Crimson for confirmation before hitting the end call button. After that, I hold the side of the frame until the screen goes dark and disappears.  
“That bastard.”

“Why would they...” Crimson squeaks, staring at her knees.

“Hey! Don’t listen to him! You are gorgeous, and not at all a slut. You are the most talented half-siren I’ve ever known.” I hop off the couch and pull her up into a tight hug.

“They used me…” she cries into my jacket.

“Of course he did. He’s an asshole elf who only thinks of himself. Who needs him anyway?”

“What if no one wants to take me on after this…? Lance what will I do? I have nothing left.”

“You could come with me? I’ve always got space on the ship for you.”

“I know, but I don’t wanna be a bother…”

“Crimson, when have you ever been a bother to me?” I ask, pausing briefly. “That’s right, never,” I answer before she can ever respond. 

I can feel her chuckling into my jacket. A smile crosses my lips.

“And what do we do when things get us down? We party! Come on, let’s go get the others and hit up some bars!” I announce, spinning her around in the air until she’s laughing and smiling.

“Okay, okay, let’s go. I could use a drink,” she agrees as I set her down.

“Good.” I smile as I grab our jackets, her leather one with gold spikes and my large, dark red trench coat. 

As we walk out the door, I fight the urge to put my arm around her waist. She’s not my girlfriend, I can’t do that without seeming weird. But I desperately want to wrap her up in my arms.

Outside the room it’s a mess of people, lounging about and drinking. I glance around the room, trying to find Luke and then it hits me. I’ll have to explain to him…

I shake it off and put on a fake smile. It can wait till tomorrow.

I spot Torix’s ridiculously silver ponytail and mesh shirt through the crowd and start towards him. When I get closer, I can see he’s with Ycee and Luke. Ycee and him are looking a little closer than when we left them.

I lean down to Crimson. “You wanna play a game?”

“Depends, what game?’ she replies.

“Idiots in a bar.”

The moment I say the name she looks up at me with a bright smile. 

“For Torix and Ycee?” she asks.

“Mhm. You noticed too?”

“Of course, they’re crushing way too hard to not notice.”

It didn’t take long for Crimson to lead us to one of the more famously punk friendly clothing optional clubs. The club choice was per Torix, his reasoning being he can dedicate the night as an offering to Edos, and her request, but we double-checked to make sure Luke and Ycee were okay with it. 

We step into the front lobby where the receptionist’s desk sat and Crimson and I sauntered up to the counter to pay for admittance. 

The room around us is in black with blacklights on the floor, illuminating the room. The desk is shaped like a giant rectangle and hides the receptionist’s side of the counter. There’s business cards placed loosely on the counter in clear containers and behind the receptionist is a wall of different items ranging from condoms to collars and lace robes.

“Hello! I didn’t know we’d be visited by two famous punk singers tonight!” The receptionist chirps, “Private room or party passes?”

“Five V.I.P. passes please,” Crimson says to the receptionist, taking out her wallet as I lean against the counter.

The receptionist smiles at us.  
“You’re already paid for. The manager says it’s good for publicity. Would you like any decorations before going in tonight? Condoms and lube are on sale tonight, as well as edible glowsticks,” she says, punching something in on her computer.

I look over at Crimson and nod before calling the others over.  
“There anything you guys want?” I ask once the three of them have joined us.

“Might wanna buy some condoms, remember last time?” Ycee reminds me and the memory of our last visit flashes in my mind. 

I nod and grumble “You’re right,” before turning back to the receptionist.   
“A ten pack of condoms and two bottles of lube.”

Crimson coughs next to me.

“Fine! Two ten packs… Jeez, you guys act like last time was a fucking shit show! You’re gonna scare, Luke,” I grumbled, glancing over towards Luke.  
I freeze at the expression on his face.

He’s got his hand up to his face with his finger resting between his lips as he watches our conversation with hungry eyes. 

I look away, my face flushing.

“Is there anything else?” Crimson asks as I pinch the bridge of my nose.

“Yeah. I bought a collar here last time, it’s held up pretty well, do you have any in stock tonight?” I ask the receptionist, avoiding making eye contact with the others.

“Mhm, we’ve got a wide variety of them mr.Pop,” she hums, gesturing to the wall behind her. “Is there a specific one you’re looking for?”

I shake my head as I scan the wall. They really do have a wide variety, ranging from lacey and frilly collars to simple black ones with metal loops. Two collars catch my eye, one with shiny gold spikes and a gold loop against black leather and the other was a white lace collar with a deep red ribbon around the middle and a frilly bow on the front.

It takes me a few moments to decide, Crimson takes the time to order clothes for the five of us; simple silk outfits with easy access. They vaguely resemble the robes we wore in the Northern Dimension with the transparency and the gold trim, however, these ones are more designed for the specific club. 

Eventually, I decide on the black leather one and a few glowsticks. Crimson pays for the items. I groan internally because that means I have to pay for tonight’s drinks. It’s a simple deal we made years ago but we like to stand by it so there’s no arguing. It also means I can order whatever frilly drink I want and I don’t have to feel bad that I’m making Crimson pay for it.

“Come on guys,” Crimson says, gesturing for the other three to follow us after the receptionist hands us our items. 

I take the box as Crimson’s hand goes to tugging on their pant’s crotch down and smoothing out their shirt as they changes form to more male anatomy. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Luke giving Crimson a weird look.

“What’s up, Luke?” I say as we turn the corner down the long hallway, the walls have neon paint on them that pops thanks to the blacklights.

“I don’t mean to be rude… but what is Crimson doing? How’d they go from huge breasts to none at all?” Luke questions, looking Crimson over intently.

Crimson smiles at him like the Cheshire cat.  
“Great question! Torix needs to learn this too,” they start, “Ycee and I both possess the ability to shapeshift, thanks to our species. Some people have it as a secondary form of magic and others have it as part of their biological DNA, like dragons, sirens and some werewolves and demons. We can manipulate our bodies at will, changing everything from hair colour and length to which sex we are,” she explains calmly to Luke as he nods along, following the explanation.

Ycee nods in confirmation as Torix glances at him in shock.

“Can you do it at will? Does it make you exhausted?” Luke asks, his eyes sparkling with questions.

“I can do it as many times as I want but if I do it too much in one day I get really tired,” Crimson supplies.

“Does it hurt?” Luke continues.

“I mean, for me, it’s mild growing pains but it’s different for everyone. Those with shapeshifting magic don’t experience pains at all,” Ycee answers this time.

Luke’s about to ask another question when we reach the change room doors.

“This is why I changed. So I can go in with you guys,” Crimson states, pushing the door to the V.I.P. men’s change-room.

An expression of clarity crosses his face as he follows Crimson and me inside.

Once inside, we’re immediately transported to a room made of crushed red-velvet and black paint. One wall is completely lined with mirrors and the other has lockers for placing your items inside. The lockers are black in colour and there’s a bin of gold locks that lock to your voice at the entrance. Right in front of us, there’s a place to take off shoes and a sign that says “No footwear permitted beyond this point”. The red velvet comes from the large benches placed around the room with one or two patrons napping and lounging on. 

Across the room from us is where the showers are, and the sound of running water echos throughout the room.  
Crimson sighs as they take off their platform boots and carries them over to the first unlocked locker they see. Once Luke has done the same he looks at them in shock.

“Crimson you’re so…!” he starts to exclaim, looking them up and down.

“I’m short. You don’t have to point it out,” she grumbles, stripping off her leather jacket and a white t-shirt to expose soft rose pink nipples and a slight bit of chub to stomach as a sculpted V-line descends below her belt.

“I didn’t mean it like that. Now we can be the shorty squad!” Luke chirps happily.

They look over at Luke and laughs a little.  
“I mean, I guess so. But you’re still taller than me.:

“Doesn’t matter! We’re short compared to Lance and that’s all that matters,” he states matter-of-factly while he unbuttons his shirt and tucks it away in his locker.

“I guess you’re right,” they sigh, removing their pants and tucking them away.

I take off my boots, sitting downs I don’t topple from standing on one heel, as they have their short conversation. After I’m done I take the locker above Luke’s and set the box of items down on the back-less couch in front of our lockers. 

Torix and Ycee have already gotten their lockers, talking amongst themselves about different things at the club to do and answering questions Torix has about shapeshifting.

With no one to talk to, I strip down to my boxers and tuck away my clothes in my locker. I make my way over to the mirror and smooth out my scruff and chest hair, making sure the tattoo on my bicep is still there, though there’s nowhere it would’ve gone. I splash some water on my face and undo my bun, letting my hair down so I can braid it back, from my face.

When I’m done, I grab a lock from near the door and walk over to the box of items and take out the pair of silk cyan pants from the box and do a quick swap with my boxers. The pants are loose and don’t cling to me. I can slightly see my legs and junk through them, which is the point, but they mostly cover up everything with their colouring. They have cuffs that cling to my ankles and around my waist though, holding the material to my body. 

Once I have the pants on I turn to put my boxers away in my locker and lock it, catching Luke and Crimson watching me out of the corner of my eye.

“What?” I huff, “Shouldn’t you two be dressed by now?”

They blink at me before scrambling to grab their own clothes from the box as I dip my hand in for the collar and buckle it around my neck, just enough so I can breathe without resistance.  
I lounge back on the couch, opening the condoms and sorting them into five piles, four each, as the others dress. Occasionally I glance up and watch them.

Crimson chose a black mini-dress that does up around their neck and leaves their whole back exposed and covers their chest, wrapping around at the ass and just barely cover down to heir mid-thigh. I have to catch my eyes from staring too long. 

At least they chose something more decent for Luke. He’s dressed in a silk, transparent white button-up that tucks into the waist of tight, transparent black, high-waisted pants. I gulp as I drink in the sight of the two of them. 

Torix and Ycee are dressed up too, Torix’s pants being the same as mine, but deep red and Ycee wearing watermelon themed high-waisted pants, one leg being bright pink and the other being lime green as well as a blue scarf around his neck.

When everyone’s dressed and ready they come over to me on the bench. I’ve sorted the condoms and glowsticks that Crimson bought so we can share them amongst ourselves.

“Okay, listen up. This is a clothing-optional club people, which means there are people stark naked and if you want to join in on it, that’s fine, just come back here and put your clothes away so you don’t lose them. Additionally, you will see people’s junk, be solicited and see other people fucking. Last time we were here it was a… mess. But whatever you’re doing, you’re doing it safely. Everyone gets two glowsticks and four condoms. Ycee and I will hold onto the two bottles of lube so if you need one just ask,” I explain, handing out the condoms and glowsticks.

Crimson adds to the lecture. “If anyone tries to get you to do something you’re not comfortable with just say no. If they don’t stop, scream for either Lance or me at the top of your lungs. Since he and I are well known either it’ll scare the person off, or someone will scare them off for you.”

“Adding onto the whole, scream for one of the famous people, you can always use the two of them as an excuse as to why you can’t do something. If you say you’re dating one of them they’ll leave you alone because these two are known to be protective of each other,” Ycee states to Torix and Luke.

“As far as anyone knows, tonight, we’re all dating. And anything that happens while we’re drunk, happens while we’re drunk. You can talk about it in the morning,” I finish, motioning for them to follow.

“So let’s have fun, guys! And after you’re done, take a shower,” Crimson sums up, cheering as we drag Luke into with us into the club and everyone makes sure to tuck away their condoms and glow sticks.

As we’re walking past the showers I hear Ycee whisper something to Torix and Luke.  
“And remember, don’t shove a glowstick up your ass. Lance did that last time we were here, wrapped it up in a condom and everything. That’s why they’re edible now.”

I can feel Luke giving me a look from behind.  
“To be fair I was wasted and there was a pool of thousand dollars from a lot of different people if I did it, thanks to Crimson.”

I hear the smack of Luke’s hand meeting his face as I open the doors.


	12. Glowsticks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Contains sexual themes and nudity (they go to a futuristic nightclub... guess from the title)

It takes two seconds for my eyes to adjust to the room. The room itself painted black with neon paintings decorating the walls with bright people in euphoric poses. Black lights lined the ceiling and lit the bar, with bottles of any and every beverage you could think of rested on shelves behind the bartenders.

Around us are people decorated in neon paints, glowsticks and transparent clothing that glowed under the black lights of the club. In the corner, there was a pair making out and by the bar, there was some sort of bet going down.

Neon haired people of all species passed by us as Crimson pushed us through to the V.I.P. lounge. A cyborg with bright yellow hair and black and yellow body mods that made her look like a bee fluttered by us with a pastel purple-haired cyclops trailing behind her. 

We had to dodge a rainbow-haired half-elf as a black-haired demon dipped him down to the floor. A neon coloured fairy ran up to us and threw neon powder into the air. I watched as the dust-coated everyone nearby, Luke’s hair being the one that stood out the most as bright yellows and blues sprinkled over the top of it.

I stifled a chuckle as I tugged him through the crowd towards the guards at the V.I.P. area. Crimson and I flashed our wrists as the nano-technology in our arm flashed our ID’s and the guard let the five of us through.

The V.I.P. room was less crowded but with way more personalities. Large square couches rested around the room, and on there was a blue-haired man who I now knew was an Akder decorated with bright blue and yellow body pair, surrounded by at least five other patrons, kissing him up and down. It didn’t get much better than that.

Crimson led us over to a free couch that we could claim for ourselves and we piled onto the massive amount of plush pillows.

“This place is…” Luke breathed, looking around with wide eyes.

“Awesome!” Torix finished, his eyes still watch the Akder on the couch. “I didn’t know the other prince was here!”

“Wait you know that guy?!” Ycee looked over at him in shock.

“Well yeah? He’s one of the princes from my home country. He didn’t want to rule so he went travelling. Guess he wound up here.” Torix shrugged, explaining it like it was an everyday concept.

Ycee just looks at him and blinks, attempting to process the information.

“Ycee. That’s what confuses you?!” Crimson laughs, watching the conversation.

Ycee glares at them. “I’m so sorry your majesty, I didn’t realize that I had to understand everything at a split second.”

Crimson shrugs and gets up.  
“Whatever man. I’m gonna go get some drinks, wanna come Lance?”

“Yeah sure,” I get up from the couch and watch as Luke stretches out across it. “You were waiting for that weren’t you?” I chuckle at him.

He smiles at me.  
“Nooo…”

I roll my eyes and follow Crimson towards the bar.

We’re a fair enough distance from the rest when we reach the bar. She orders her usual beer and whiskey mix, and I grab myself a sparkling rose, as well as some wine for Luke and a beer for Ycee. We’re waiting for the drinks when she leans into me.

“So, what’s the plan?” she whispers in a low voice.

I blink for a moment before I catch up to what she’s saying.  
“All we have to do is push them together on accident while dancing and they’ll do the rest. Trust me, I’ve seen the look on Ycee’s face before, he just needs a little help,” I whisper back, gesturing towards the rest of the group where Torix is practically sitting in Ycee’s lap while they’re talking to Luke.

She snorts at the sight of them.  
“Fair enough,” she says, taking the drinks from the bartender and walking back over to the group.

I pay and follow after her.

We return to the couch and set the drinks down on the table in the middle of the couch, leaving ours in our hands. 

After that, we situate ourselves on the couch; Crimson sitting in the middle with me sitting behind Luke, and the night of drinking begins.

After the first few drinks, the night turns into a blur for dancing and sexual tension as I try my hardest to hold back from flirting with Crimson and Luke while still trying to push Torix and Ycee together.

It takes forever to get the two of them onto the dancefloor together, luckily, we eventually do, during a song Ycee’s particularly partial too. I did a cover of it once just for him. 

Crimson and I take up dancing on either side of the pair, pushing them closer together but it doesn’t seem to be working. 

Eventually, I get fed up and grab Ycee’s wrist, pulling him close to me.

“Dude, you’re killing me,” I growl in a low tone.

He looks at me confused.  
“What? Why?”

“Just fucking kiss him already! We can all see it!” I practically shout in his ear.

He looks at me in shock before blushing and staring at the floor.

“What if he doesn’t want to though… I mean we just met, he can’t possibly like me enough for it to be-!” 

Ycee doesn’t even get time to finish his sentence before he’s pulled away from me by Torix. I watch as he grabs Ycee’s scarf and presses his lips to his. Ycee stands there in shock for a moment before he wraps his arms around Torix’s waist and dips him low.

Crimson and I begin cheering and I beam over at Luke who’s sitting on the couches and watching our drinks.

Only to see someone hanging over him, pinning him to the couch, a very obvious boner pressing against his jeans. It would’ve been fine. I could’ve just looked away. That is if he didn’t have a look of fear spread across his face.

In a split second, I was at the couch, pulling the man off of him and shoving him against the nearest wall.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I snarl in the other man’s ear.

“I was going to fuck that pretty boy toy. He’s been teasing me all night. What do you care?” the other man says, standing his ground and giving me a smirk.

“He’s mine. Hands off,” I growl in response, my grip on his wrists tightening.

His eyes go wide at the sound of that.   
“Wait he’s yours?! I thought he was just a friend of yours!” he pleads, starting to squirm under me.

“Hell no. You should learn to have more respect too. I would’ve been fine with you doing him, but the fear in his eyes was screaming at me. Don’t touch my ‘mate,” I snap at him, holding him to the wall despite his squirming.

“Okay, okay I won’t! Just let me go!” he squeaks.

“Is that a promise?”

“YES!”

I let him go and he turns tail and runs down to the other room of the club. Then I turn my attention to Luke.

He’s shaking on the couch, Crimson sitting next to him and Ycee at the bar with Torix.

I walk over and crouch in front of him.  
“Luke, are you good? Did he hurt you?” I whisper, holding his shoulders gently.

“I’m fine… he just, scared me…” Luke whispers back.

“What did he do?” Crimson asks, rubbing his back.

“He just came up to me and pinned me without warning,” Luke squeaks, looking at me with fear.

“From now on, you’re staying by my side,” I huff, sitting next to him on the couch.

He nods.

Ycee and Torix return to us, carrying five glasses of water and hand them out to us.

“Here guys, it’ll help,” Ycee says as he hands Luke and me our glasses.

I nod, taking mine and downing it.  
“Thanks.”

“We should probably go for the night, it’s getting late,” Crimson suggests.

“Yeah, it’s almost one. You wanna go Luke?” I agree.

He looks at me and nods.

Torix chimes in agreement as well.  
We get up and bring our glasses to the bar so they can wash them before walking through the crowd of people again and back into the change rooms.

We strip down and shower the powders and sweat off our bodies before changing back into our street clothes. Once we’re all ready to go with take the outfits with us and walk out of the club, making sure no one follows us.

As we’re leaving, I stick my hands in my pockets. A piece of paper brushes against my fingers that wasn’t there before. I wrap my fingers around it and pull it out of my pocket.

My eyes read over the note scribbled on the paper, and a sense of dread washes over me.  
“Um, guys?” I mumble and everyone stops around me, turning to see what’s wrong.

“Yeah, Lance?” Ycee answers, noticing the paper in my hand.

“I- there was a note in my pocket that definitely wasn’t there before we got here,” I say, my eyes scanning over the note again. I can feel my stomach turn.

“That’s weird…” I hear Crimson say, stepping closer to me.

“Well, what does it say?” Luke asks, trying to lean over my shoulder to look.

“Lance Emeryixon, I have information on two individuals who know how to get to Terene. Signed, Wesley,” I whisper, the words almost catching in my throat.

In front of me, Ycee and Crimson share a look.

“You mean captain Wesley? Like the one who’s back in the Eastern dimension?” Luke questions me as I read the paper for the fifth time.

“Y-yeah.” Is all I manage to get out.

“Well, that’s easy! You know her don’t you?” Luke chirps, patting my back.

I squash the dread bubbling in my stomach and smile at him.   
“Y-yeah, you’re right. Easy job.”

“That’s awesome then! We’re going home!” Luke cheers and I look over at him, an obviously shocked expression on my face. “I mean um, you’re going home…”

I’m about to say something stupid when Crimson jumps into the conversation to save me.

“Come on, we’re tired, let’s go to the hotel,” she says, starting down the street towards a towering glass spiral.

“Wait, Crimson, we’re not staying in the Xilin are we?!” Ycee asks next to us, holding onto Torix by a hand on his hip as if he’d bolt.

“Hell yeah, we are man!” Crimson cheers as we follow her down the street towards the Xilin.

It takes around five minutes to walk down the street to the Xilin. As we push open the doors, I watch Luke’s face light up. Around us is a little touch of space trapped in between panes glass as neon space creatures float by us. Small fish-like creatures glowing bright yellows, brilliant pinks and spectacular greens swim by us accompanied by dazzling nymph dragons with iridescent scales blowing puffs of flame in front of them and soaring through them.

“Lance this place is amazing,” Luke whispers next to me as we stand next to the indoor plants and watch the creatures swim by.

Crimson checks us in as we stand there, watching the small creatures. Somehow, my hand rests idly on his hip, pulling him close next to me. He doesn’t pull away, resting his head on the side of my bicep instead.

I almost forget there are other people in the world until Crimson comes up next to us.

“Okay, so they only have two rooms left. I prebooked mine. But that means you two have to share a room, Torix and Ycee already claimed there’s and have headed upstairs. Which means you two have to share a room tonight.” She winks at me.

Immediately I pull away from Luke and he does the same.

“We um, I can’t… why can’t I just sleep with you?” I mumble, staring at the floor. Sleeping with Crimson wouldn’t be much better, my head swooning at the thought of her breasts pressed against my chest fills my mind… at least I’ve slept next to Luke before. But tonight it feels so different.

“Sorry dude, but I have some things to take care of tonight. You two and your tension are stuck together tonight in room five-hundred and thirteen. Have fun,” she giggles as she hands me the room card and walks off.

“CRIMSON!” I squeak out of embarrassment as she sashays away.

“Can’t hear you!” she calls back as the elevator doors close behind her.

When she’s gone I turn back to Luke.

“Come on let’s go,” I mumble, trying to hide my flushed face.

He nods and follows me up to the elevator and all the way down the hall until we’re outside our room.

I open the door and step inside, he follows closely behind me. 

I turn back to him. “Are you okay with this? I can always sleep some-” I started to say only for my mouth to be cut off by Lukes.

I look down in shock as I see his eyes screwed shut as he presses his lips to mine. It takes me all of two nanoseconds to wrap my arms around his waist and pull him tighter and closer to me.

My eyes close as the world around us dissolves until its just the two of us standing together, unable to breathe, trapped in each other’s presence.

Then he pulls back and I pull back as we try to catch our breath.

“Sorry I- I don’t know-” he stutters before turning around and shutting himself in the bathroom.

“I’ll be on the balcony,” I mumble before walking across the room and stepping outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't call this chapter 'glowsticks' for nothing... I can't look at glowsticks the same anymore tbh


	13. Cinnamon and Whiskey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to lie, Lance is a smoker (if you hadn't noticed) and this whole chapter is just a sex scene.

I’m leaning on the balcony, a cigarette between my fingers as I draw long puffs and blow them out into the night air, looking out to the vast galaxy that surrounds Asteria when I hear the door slide open and then shut behind me. I don’t turn to look as the other person rests on the balcony next to me.

“Can’t sleep. You?” Luke asks and I turn to look at him.

“Eh, I never sleep,” I reply, giving him a smile before I turn back to the sky. 

“I suppose we need to talk...”

Fuck. I didn’t expect him to say that… not right now, not when we’re about to leave. There’s a lump building in my throat, I can feel it, all my balled up anticipation and nervousness. No matter how hard I swallow, it doesn’t loosen. I take another drag of the cigarette in hopes it’ll help me calm down.

I continue to stare out at the stars, struggling to form the words to say. I open my mouth to say something, but my voice gets caught in my throat when I glance over and see those sky-blue eyes staring back at me.

“They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” I whisper, gesturing towards the glimmering stars outside the station.

“You’re avoiding the subject,” he states, derailing my attempt to steer the conversation away.

I have no other choice than to admit it.

“I am in love with you…” I whisper, the words barely left my lips.

I feel him stir next to me, looking over at me. “Lance, I-” he starts, I cut him off before he finishes.

I rub my cigarette out in the ashtray.

“You heard me. I am in love with you, Luke Jazzelmire Tallen. From the moment I first walked into your shop and saw you through the mountains of books. I have been in love with you ever since I spent all night putting away each book meticulously, and every moment I returned to see you, I fell more in love.” I can’t turn and face him, I know what he’ll look at me with, so I continue to stare out at the stars.  
“It’s okay if you don’t feel the same, I know it’s a lot more for you to fall into love and I’m just a floater who falls into it to easily, but I couldn’t keep going without you knowing. I am in love with you so much that it hurts, worse than any pain I’ve felt. I have been in love with you for three years, and I’ll be in love with you for as many more that I’m alive for.” I can feel his hand rest on mine, and I swallow my nervousness.  
“I don’t care if falling for you is seen as one of my greatest failures and that love is just a word that’s used too much and that no one truly ever loves someone fully…” the sensation of tears pricking up in the corners of my eyes becomes known to me as I turn towards him, my eyes trained on the ground.  
“But Luke, meeting you, is one of my greatest triumphs and that I…” I pause, to wipe the tears back from my eyes with my sleeve, and take his hands in mine.   
“I love you with so much of my heart I might break… You’ve given me a reason to mean something more than just who I was to the world…”

When I finally gain the courage to look up at him, he’s crying. Tears dripping down his face silently as he stares back at me.

“H-hey, what’s wrong?” I ask, reaching up a hand and wiping away tears.

“Is it really okay that I’m not all that I look? Is it really okay that the tattoos around my wrists are what make me male?” he says behind a choked sob, refusing to meet my gaze.

“Luke…” I sigh, pulling him into a strong, comforting hug, “Nothing ‘makes you male’, you are male. You are a man, the most gorgeous, handsome, radiant man I’ve ever met. It has never stopped me and never will stop me, from loving you.”

There are no words from either of us. I feel him shake in my arms, clinging to me tightly as he sobs into my chest. I sway back and forth on my heels, trying to comfort him best I can. 

I wait patiently until he’s done, leaning against the metal railing.

Amidst the sobs, he wipes them away, and pulls me down by the collar, pressing his lips onto mine. I look at him startled, his eyes furiously shut, his grip on my collar, tight.

Then I lean in closer, pressing my lips against his, my hand resting against the back of his head, playing with the soft tendrils of hair that dribbled over my fingers. I rest another hand on the small of his back, pulling him closer as we kiss on the balcony. 

It was a soft, breathless kiss with long-kept passion behind it, something you can only grasp once in your lifetime.

He pulls back and looks up at me breathlessly. 

“Then have all of me,” he whispers, his hand resting on my ass to further imply what he’s saying.

I don’t need to be told twice, I press my lips back against his passionately and pull him up so his legs wrap around my waist. I reach for the door, sliding it open and walking forwards slowly until my shins press against the bed. 

I hear him panting, and open my eyes to see him, flushed with happiness and looking up at me giddily.

A small smile creeps across my lips and I lean down again, connecting them back to his with a fiery passion. I sit down on the bed, with him sitting on my lap, grinding slowly against me.

This time I finally relax into the kiss and can truly take him in. He tastes like cinnamon and a small hint of whiskey, but with a hint of sweetness that I can’t quite place, behind it. It almost tastes like home. 

Carefully, we pull back from each other, just gazing into each other’s eyes. I lift my hands, hovering them over his top button, waiting for an answer. I want to unwrap him and then wrap him up myself. If he’ll let me.

Gingerly, he nods at me. The gesture doesn’t show much, but between us, it means more than words. My hands softly push the buttons back through the fabric until his shirt is all the way open on his chest. He shrugs the shirt off so that it pools on the bed below. 

I can finally see all of his top tattoo’s, around his neck, are two thin horizontal lines wrapping all the way around with a multitude of evenly spaced, equally thin lines connecting them together and shorter ones sparking off around the horizontal ones, never touching them. This pattern is repeated slightly lower, going over top his collarbones, and around his wrists, as well as on his right middle finger and left index finger. Underneath his top-surgery scars as the same small ticks that circle the cuff like pattern. 

As he turns his wrists, I can see a small sheet of paper with a couple of options tattooed on his left arm and a moon calendar on his write. They shine with even more detail than before.

I trace my fingers over the tattoo’s, his skins so smooth against my calloused fingers and I can’t get enough of the feeling of closeness. As I’m tracing my fingers over the tattoo designs, I notice soft freckles dotting all over his skin.

“You have freckles,” I breathe, my breath hitching in my throat as my eyes run over the soft, brown stars scattered across his skin.

He sighs. “I know.” 

It’s barely a whisper and he’s looking down with shame.

“Hey,” I tilt up his chin to look at me, “I didn’t mean it like that. They’re gorgeous, and you match the background, thousands of little stars across your skin.” I smile, tracing my hands over the tattoos once again.

“Oh…” he breathes, face flushed from embarrassment. 

I wasn’t expecting his hands would quiet feel against my skin. His soft touch brushing against me each time he slipped another button through until he hands them all undone and my shirt was open, baring my bare chest to the world.

Awkwardly, I let him shift it the rest of the way off, as I had found myself slightly underneath him, my back bent in a lax C-shape against the back of the bed and the rest pinned down at the waist by his hips.

The moment my shirt was fully off, I got nervous. I could feel his hot gaze running over me, looking over my skin. Ideal eyes stopping on the soft red curls that spread across my chest and trailing up from underneath my pants, as well as the matching straighter ones that were on my forearms.

“I um, hope it’s not too weird for you…” I mumble under my breath, staring off to the side at the passing stars. 

“W-weird? No! I just… you look so much… more like a guy that I do…” he admits, looking down sadly.

That was the last straw. This man needs some love. 

I grab him by the hips, flipping us on the bed so that he’s now laying on his back and I’m between his legs. 

“L-lance, what are you d-doing?!” he squeaked in embarrassment, hands flying up to cover his face as it turned bright tomato red.

“You need to love yourself, so I’m going to show you how,” I explain, bending down and pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

I start at his lips, trailing down from his cheeks, down his neck, across his chest, pausing to be extra loving to his scars, lightly fluttering kisses against his soft stomach, until I reach his belt-line.

I rest my hands on his belt before looking up at him for approval. 

He nods at me and I smile reassuringly, undoing his belt and then the button on his pants before inching them down his hips and tossing them behind us as well as his boxers.

He’s left naked underneath me, exposed. I see the uncomfortableness written across his face as he looks back up at me. To make him feel a bit more comfortable, I reach for my own belt, undoing it and disposing of with my own pants and boxers.

“There, is that better?” I ask, running my hands through his hair once I resume my position.

“A little…” he admits, dropping his hands to the sheets underneath him. 

“Good,” I whisper, shifting my attention to his now exposed vulva.

I hear him whimper as I run my fingers gently across his clit, and even more so when I bend down and press my lips to it. 

Running my fingers over soft spots, I mumble soft words of praise and encouragement to him. Telling him how handsome he is. 

After a while, I cautiously slip a finger inside him, and he squirms underneath me, fingers flexing a little. I smirk, letting him adjust before adding a second, and then a third, and finally a fourth, moving them in and out and rubbing his clit with the thumb on my other hand.

“Do you… do you think you could maybe… use that?” he suggests, moaning a little under his breath as he draws attention to my now straining dick that’s hanging low between my legs, begging for attention.

“Oh yeah… I mean if you want me too…” I mumble, leaning back and grabbing a condom from inside the desk-drawer closest to the bed.

He doesn’t even hesitate before replying “Please.”

“Alright, if you’re so eager,” I chuckle, rolling the condom over my dick, pinching it at the tip so that it seals properly.

He laughs a little with me, reaching up and pulling my head down, planting a kiss right on my lips.

“Mmph!” I exclaim in shock before moving back to my position and lining myself up, easing into the kiss.

I feel his arms wrap around my neck as I gently press inside him, pulling us closer together. He kisses me passionately, letting me feel all the breath hitches and soft moans in my own mouth as I ease into him.

When I’m finally hilted, I pull back from the kiss.  
“Fuck, you’re tight. Should’ve stretched you out more… you doing good down there?” I ask, rubbing the inside of his thighs in slow circles.

“Yeah… I’m good,” he moans, slightly dazed as he stares up at me.

“Good.” I smile and bend down, pressing a soft kiss to his lips before resting my lips against his neck, sucking down hard as I begin to slowly thrust my hips.

He develops into a pile of moans underneath me, that’s only worsened when I start rubbing his clit with my thumb in small circles after I’ve already left a decent patch of hickeys on the skin of his neck. 

The unexpected happened when he threaded his hand through my hair and pulled hard at the roots, succeeding in making me moan loudly as he chuckles underneath me, before pulling on it again.

He pulled my head down, biting my neck, leaving teeth marks and hickeys on my skin until my neck was completely discoloured. Feral growls escaped his throat as he played with my hair and my vision swarmed with white.

Time loses all meaning and relevance to us as we catch ourselves up in each other. At some point he wrapped his legs around my waist, bringing us closer together as his hands ran through my hair.

I cannot tell you exactly how long it had been, it felt like eternity and seconds at the same time until Luke’s breath began hitching and he cried out at me.

“Lance… don’t stop…! Dear god… I’m gonna…! AH!” He moaned beneath me, gripping at my shoulders tightly as he climaxes around me, his hole flexing tightly.

As soon as I hear those moans of pleasure, I reach my limit, climaxing with him as he tightens around me. However, something new happens. Two large, bird-like wings spread out behind me as I cum inside him. 

“Woah.” We mumble at the same time, tumbling down against the sheets. Once I’ve removed, tied, and chucked the condom, I try moving the wings and succeed in wrapping them around the two of us, pulling us far closer than I could with my arms.

As soon as we’ve calmed down and relaxed into the sheets, Luke speaks; “What’s with the wings?” he asks, running his hands against the feathers, causing a shiver to run up my spine.

“I don’t know… that’s never happened before…” I mumble in amazement and confusion, watching him as he examines the feathers.

“Hm… two magics… maybe you have one of the Uncommon types?” he suggests, musing mostly to himself.

“But… my mother wasn’t even magic and my father only had Dimension powers, I can’t…” I reason with more myself than him.

“Maybe it skipped a generation?” Luke states, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

“I guess… I just don’t want to believe it… I could go mad and kill you,” I say softly, holding him in my arms.

“Ssh… don’t worry, it’s probably not that. But it’s still really nice to sleep like this,” he mumbles into the feathers, drifting off to sleep.

“Heh...” I follow him into the dark.


	14. Be Careful What You Assume

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So trigger warnings to rape/non-convo in relationships as well as abusive relationships.

It was early morning when we woke up the next day. The tip that I’d been given was driving me stir-crazy so I’d woken up early to the sight of Luke curled up into my wings.  
“Luke, wake up,” I whisper, gently shaking his shoulder.

He grumbles, curling closer to me.

“We need to get up and go before Xzavis finds me or we won’t get out alive.”

The urgency in my voice seems to get through to him and he sits up, rubbing his eyes.

I lean forwards and kiss his forehead before getting out of bed.

We stumble around the room, using the washroom, brushing away morning breath, slipping into fresh clothes and cleaning up the soiled ones from last night. I shove everything into my bag, watching as it adds to the pocket of clothes already in the bag.  
“Ready?” I ask, looking up at Luke. He already has his combat boots on, standing at the door.

“Ready.” he nods and the two of us step out of the room.

We barely have time to knock on Torix and Ycee’s room, and Crimson’s before the elevator opens.

At the same time that Ycee, Crimson and Torix exit their rooms, Xzavis steps out of the elevator with six officers in tow.

“Lance. I didn’t think you’d be back so soon.” I don’t even have to look at his face to see the smirk on it.

“Xzavis, I was just leaving. You don’t need your bodyguards,” I say, snarling at him as my friends stand behind me.

I almost have him convinced until he notices the hickeys on my neck.

“It seems you brought a friend with you. You were always such a slut. I believe using a Siren’s powers to seduce someone is illegal. Guards, arrest them!”

As the guards start towards us, a large smile twists on his face. He thinks he’s won.

“You can’t. I’m not a Siren.” I stand my ground as the guard’s freeze. I’m buying myself time to think of an escape plan.

“No, but she is,” he says in a sickeningly sweet voice. “And I believe that protecting an offender is an offence as well. Guards?”

The guards start towards us again. It doesn’t matter now.

“YOU SADISTIC SON OF A BITCH! SHE DOESN’T HAVE THOSE POWERS!” I screech while stepping out both my feet to a wide stance. I have one shot at this.

I focus as the guards charge down the hallway if I can do wings, what’s stopping me from doing more?

A roar escapes as black claws sprout from my fingers, a large tail and horns to match, as well as fangs. Dark, liquid-like magic flows out from my eyes and floats in a crown around my head. 

“Shadow demon, Demetrius,” the form growls, looking at the guards now frozen in fear.

In the blink of an eye, we rush forwards and drag our claw against his cheek, drawing blood. The demon licks it off our claw.  
“Catch me if you dare,” we growl at Xzavis.

I don’t wait for his response or the guards to continue moving again, I turn around, scoop up Luke and cock my head as I run back through my room, towards the balcony. I don’t bother shifting the door, it just moves as Luke clings to my chest, bracing for impact. I don’t miss a beat as I leap off the balcony, my wings spreading. I catch myself and soar upwards, towards the docks. 

Behind me, Ycee’s got Crimson and Torix, his dragon form stretching its wings. 

We’re at the docks in a matter of moments, Ycee lands on the ship, but I land on the docks, letting Luke run-up to the ship.

I take a deep breath and I’ve deformed when Crimson comes off the ship. I smile at her and move to step onto the ship.  
“Bye Crimson, catch you later.”

“Lance wait!”

I blink, turning towards her.

“Crimson?”

“Please don’t go…”

“Crimson you know I can’t stay much longer.”

“But what about me?! I can’t deal with that anymore. You can’t leave me here alone again. They’ll arrest me! I’ll never see you again! I have no job left!”

“I… fuck. I can’t… Crimson they won’t hurt you, but… you’re making this harder than it needs to be. Do you think I want to leave you here alone again?”

“Then don’t. Take me with you. I want to meet your mother, I want to see your home, I want to be with you forever.”

“Crimson… I want to be with you forever too… I… Do you really want to come with me?”

“Yes! I love you! Of course, I want to come with you-!” she slaps her hand over her mouth when she realizes what she’s said.

“What?” I ask, the words startling me.

She looks up at me, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. “Lance I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you on stage. You took my heart then and there, and when you left and ended your career, you took my heart with you. It never mattered whether you were broken or not, I’ve been beaten down from this society so much that I’m broken too but… Klū̃ æjko hɑr kei ra’ wæstæ küs sema.” 

Her last words are in Icceno, my native tongue, I taught her how to say these things, she remembered. I feel my heart soar as I respond back to her.

I’m next to her in a matter of seconds, pulling her close. “Klõm wriʃl alwæs shæ e klos.”

She doesn’t respond with words, instead, leaning in and pressing her lips to mine. I cup her jaw with my hand lightly, pulling her face up ever so slightly. I lean down and press my lips to hers softly. She doesn’t pull back, wrapping her arms around my neck instead and pulling me closer. 

We stand on the metal dock for what feels like hours, but to others is probably seconds. 

“As cute as that was, we have to go now,” Ycee points out, coming up behind us.

We glance over and see guards running towards us. 

“Fuck you’re right.” I grab Crimson and run onto the ship, Ycee following us.

“Ycee, you’re coming too?”

“Well yeah, I’m kinda a wanted criminal now. I helped you guys escape. Plus, I kinda… I… Torix and I are…”

“We’re dating,” Torix clarifies.

“Oh! Congrats you two!” I cheer, heading to the steering wheel of the ship. I flick on some buttons and the ship starts moving, fast, out of the dock. 

As Asteria disappears behind us, Luke joins me.

“So I’m guessing I now have a metamour?” he asks happily, bouncing on his toes.

“I guess so,” I sigh, leaning against the wheel.

His smile brightens. “I was wondering when you guys would admit it! I’m so happy for you!” He giggles, pulling me into a warm hug.

“Thanks boo,” I whisper, hugging him tightly.

After we break the hug, he sits down next to me, watching as I guide the ship into one of my portals, sending us to the Eastern Dimension.  
_____________________

The ship rocks as it settles into one of the seas of the Eastern Dimension.

“So, what did you say to each other?” he asks.

I look over at him, confused.

“The, you know, kloo eejko har something or other?”

“Oh! That’s Icceno, the native language of my people. It’s from Terene. It’s klū̃ æjko hɑr kei ra’ wæstæ küs sema and klõm wriʃl alwæs shæ e klos,” I repeat back to him, his eyes lighting up at the words.

“What does it mean? Can you teach me to say it? Knowing some Icceno could help when we reach Terene.”

“Okay,” I chuckle, settling down next to him, “It’ll be a long way to Murktown.”  
“klū̃ æjko hɑr kei ra’ wæstæ küs sema means ‘You are the key that unlocked my heart’, and klõm wriʃl alwæs shæ e klos means ‘I will always be your key’.”

“That’s so romantic!” 

“Mhm.”

“Okay, so, I don’t think I can pronounce that, can you teach me?”

“Of course. Say it like this, kloo eijok har key ra weistei koo sema”

“Kloo… eejok…”

“No, try again.”

“klū̃ æjko hɑr kei ra’ weestee...”

“Weistei.”

“Ra’ weistei koo sema.”

“Very good! Now put it all together.”

“Okay… klū̃ æjko hɑr kei ra’ wæstæ?” He looks at me for confirmation.

I nod. “klõm wriʃl alwæs shæ e klos”

“Okay. Next?”

“The seconds part goes like this, klAm wirshl alwei e klos.”

“Klõm wriʃl alwæs shæ e klos.”

“Holy shit, that was great!”

“First try! So why are there so fewer words than the Ruliansh translation?”

“Ah well, are and the, don’t exist in Terneian.”

“That’s pretty cool. Can you teach me more?’

“Of course. How about ‘my name is’…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Xzavis is a dick.


	15. I'm An Idiot For Bringing You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Arc 4! 
> 
> Complete trigger warning for Wesley. This contains reference and attempted rape. Please don't read if you're sensitive to that sort of thing.
> 
> Also, trigger warning for getting shot. And blood.

“Okay, this should be simple, it’s an in and out, only a couple hours type of job,” I announce, standing at the head of the table. Everyone’s sitting around a large map I’ve laid out.  
“I’m going to go talk to Wesley and get the location, if I’m not back in three hours then I want you to contact the local police. Tell them her location and they’ll be on her in a matter of minutes.”

“Wait, hold on, you’re not doing this alone,” Luke chimed in, “She’s dangerous, what makes you think she’ll just hand it over to you?”

“We’re old friends, she obviously wanted me to get wind of this so I would come to see her,” I explain, scratching at the side of my hand, the knot starting inside my stomach.

Crimson stands up, slamming her fists on the table. “Even more reason that you shouldn’t go alone! Lance don’t you remember what she did to you?!”

Luke looks from me to Crimson with worry in his eyes and I glare at Crimson.

“Crimson…” I growl in a low tone, warning her to stop. 

She pales and realizes. “Right, right, sorry. But still, one of us should at least go with you.”

“She’s right Lance, you shouldn’t go alone,” Ycee adds in, his tone lowering. The shared secret hangs in the air.

I sigh, there’s no winning this argument.   
“Fine… one person comes with me. But I need the rest of you here so I know you’re safe.”

“Good. You’re taking Luke. He knows the lay of the land and-” Crimson starts.

“NO!” I shout a little too quickly, Luke looking up at me in shock. “I mean… wouldn’t it be better if Ycee or you come with me?”

She shakes her head. “Your ‘deal’ with her protects Luke. He’s the one person who she can’t touch. It has to be him.”

My stomach constricts… her being anywhere near Luke terrifies me… he can’t know how I kept him and his shop safe. 

But there’s no fighting it. She’s right.

“Fine,” I sigh, sitting down in my chair.

Crimson sits down as well.  
“I know this isn’t ideal, but she can’t hurt you unless you give her that power.”

“Let’s hope so…”  
_____________________

I stand in front of the ship, my gun holster rests on my hip. I’ve done my hair up, tidied up the small beard growing on my lower jaw and put on a clean shirt. Now Luke stands next to me in his combat boots, black turtle-neck and blue jeans, clipping his own gun around his waist.

“Are you sure you want to come with me?” I ask for the fiftieth time.

His answers the same. “Of course. Let’s go get that location.” He smiles at me, that dazzling smile and more worry builds-up in my stomach.

I might never see that smile again after today.

We wave goodbye to Crimson, Ycee and Torix as we step into the portal I’ve created. It should take us right to the dock of her ship.

Cycadelic light swirls around us as I hold Luke’s hand tightly so he doesn’t slip away. The light flashes white and then dims to black before we find ourselves on a ship deck made of dark wood. 

Around us, people pause to watch us step out of the portal. Then they glance up to the source of a loud booming voice.

“LANCE! I didn’t think you’d be stopping by today!” the voice announces.

Luke and I look up to see her standing on the poop deck, leaning over the steering wheel of the ship. Her captain’s hat is tilted on her head and there’s a large gash on the side of it, her long brown hair pools around her shoulders. She has a corset on, tightly wrapped around her waist over top of the white, low-cut shirt and underneath the large brown, skin-tight jacket covered with small gold spikes. Her light brown pants cling to her thighs and are cut off halfway up by leather boots with flat soles. One one of her hips, a sword rests and there’s a gun on the other.

“Wesley. I believe you have something for me,” I state, just loud enough for her to hear.

“Oh but of course. I’ll give it to you once you give me something.” She grins like a cat that ate the canary.

“Hell no. I’m not giving you that. You’ve had plenty. I just want the location,” I growl, standing my ground, with my arms crossed over my chest.

“Mm, I don’t think so. You can have it once you give me what I want. Boys?” She waves her hand in a circle around her head and the crew around us start moving towards us.

“Wesley, I said no!”

She shrugs it off, and a crew-member grabs our wrists, quickly pushing us to our knees. I try to shapeshift or make a portal to get us out of here when something heavy slaps over my wrists and my magic stops working, the connection feeling cold and dry.

“And thanks for bringing Luke along, he’ll make great leverage.”

The crew binds our wrists and gags our mouths as Wesley makes her way down towards us. I glance over at Luke and he’s watching her with wide, panicked eyes.

Why did I bring him…

I start struggling, trying to get free and get Luke out of her. I try to summon my magic but whoever’s holding me catches on and there’s a thud to the side of my head and my ears start to ring. I watch as the world blurs and the void swallows me.  
_____________________

When I come too, we’re in a dark room, I’m tied to a chair facing Luke. His head is bowed to the floor and I immediately assume the worst.

“Luke? Luke! LUKE!?” I shout, struggling in the chair. I can’t summon my magic at all as I rock back and forth on the chair trying to get closer to him.

“Ah, Lance, you’re finally awake… I can’t say the same about your friend here though,” Wesley’s voice cuts through my struggles and I glance around to spot her sitting on a bench, playing with her sword.

She sheaths it and stands up.

“Fuck you,” I spit.

She laughs and stands up, walking towards us.

“Mm, that’s the plan,” she says as a smirk crosses her lips, making my blood run cold.

“Never. I won’t let you.”

“And how are you going to do that?” she asks, standing over me, her hand on her gun, impossibly close to my face.

“I- I’ll think of something,” is all I can muster to say.

“It’s a funny thing, Lance, it took a bitch and her son to get you on my door. If this got out, imagine what it would do to your reputation. Some might start to think you’re a dog fucker,” Wesley taunted, a smirk spread across her lips as she tilted my chin upwards with the tip of her pistol.

I bare my teeth back at her.

“That’s such a bad look for you, you know? How do you expect me to help you when you should up like this? Scruffy, unshaven and baring fangs at me. It’s not how you treat your girlfriend,” Wesley tutted, crouching down and stroking the side of my jaw with the back of her hand. 

I try to pull away from her touch but the ropes keep me still.   
“You’re delusional. You’re not my girlfriend. It was one time! Now untie me… or are you scared of what I’d do if you did?” 

“Me?! Scared?! Now that’s a load of shit. I seem to recall you being the one who was scared. After all, you ran.” She stands up, glaring down at me.

She’s not going to bring this up with Luke here… is she? Even if he’s unconscious…   
“I wasn’t scared,” I respond flatly.

“Mhm, of course... And it wasn’t one time. It was so many, wasn’t it Lance?” she purred, dragging her loaded pistol down the side of my head, facing Luke.

That’s when I notice his eyes are open. Luke’s awake and staring at me with wide eyes.

“Luke, don’t listen to her…” I whisper, giving him a scared look.

He stares back at me with fear in his eyes. He has to watch this crazy bitch drag a gun across my skin, she could set it off at any moment on either of us. My heart’s pounding in my chest as I pray that someone, anyone, finds us. 

“Oh please do listen, Luke. Lance hasn’t been honest with you about what he’s done apparently,” she urges him. I can’t see her face, but I know she’s got that demented smile she always wore when she knew she’d won.

“W-what do you mean?” Luke squeaks, he’s shaking in his seat. I feel awful for bringing him here and walking right into her trap.

“Well, you see…” she stalks over to Luke and stands behind him, “when Lance here was helping you with your little bookshop, he made a deal with us. We’d stay away from your shop… as long as Lance repaid us. Isn’t that right, Lance-y?”

“In money! We agreed on the money!” I protest, trying to break free from the rope.

“Now, now Lance-y, we wouldn’t want someone to get hurt. Now would we…? Best to tell the truth.” I look up at her and that smiles on her face. She has the tip of her pistol to Lance’s temple and he’s shaking underneath of her.

“Don’t you dare touch a hair on his head,” I growl, drumming my fingers against the ropes.

“Tell the truth. What did you really pay me back in…?” Her head tilts to the side, her eyes matching the grin on her face.

“... sex.” I sigh, looking down at my feet in shame and defeat.

I can hear a gasp from Luke.

“Oh don’t act so surprised, your little Lance-y-poo is quite the little slut. He was practically begging for it. It only makes sense that he found out he’s a shapeshifter, they all ask for it,” she whispered, loud enough for me to her. 

My fists curled together. I couldn’t break free from this, the barrel was right against his temple. One wrong move, one squeeze from her hand, and that bullet goes straight through his head. The thought haunts me as I try to formulate a plan. 

“I… I don’t believe you! Lance isn’t like this!” Luke protests.

“Oh, but he is! I could fuck him right here and now and he wouldn’t even make a protest. He’s so needy that he’ll beg me for more,” she laughs, the click of her metal leg against the wood echoing throughout the room.

“You’re lying!” Luke states definitely.

“Why you-” Wesley starts.

“Luke, stop. It’s… not worth it to argue with her,” I mumble, still focusing on my feet.

“Yes Luke, listen to your pet. You don’t want this to be the last sight you see… do you?” she croons happily. 

I want to sink into my chair. I’m better than this, to give her power over me again, but I can’t help it. I need her to fall for it for my plan to work.

“So, are you going to pay me for my information?” she taunts, stalking over towards me. 

“Name your price Wesley,” I say, masking my anger with a submissive tone and continuing to stare at my feet.

“Hm… I was thinking that lovely body of yours would do just fine.” I can feel her greed as she trails her gun down my torso, resting it over my junk.

“You’d love that, wouldn’t you?” I cut the last part of the rope and it falls down off me. Then the clatter of handcuffs as they drop to the floor and I can feel my magic once more. She notices this too quickly and shoots behind her. I hear a pained cry come from Luke. I’ve had enough. 

Quickly I twist my body so her pistol aims at the floor and lurch forward, pushing her down and landing on top of her. Restraining her to the ground.

“Bad boy! Get off me, you whore!” She screeches, twisting underneath me and trying to budge me off.

I don’t move. I’m twice her weight and built of muscle. Maybe if she started working out more she’d been able to overtake me. 

I reach for her gun and aim it down, against her chest.  
“If you move, this goes through you.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Of course I would! I’m done with your shit! You abused our deal for three years! You raped me for your own pleasure! I won’t hesitate to shoot you here and now if you make a move to threaten me or my partners.”

Her face scrunches up at me. But she doesn’t do anything to threaten me.

I can hear footsteps in the hallway. I think Luke can hear them too. I hope he’s okay. I can’t take my eyes off her to check.

“Good. Now that that’s clear, I’m turning you in. You’re going to jail for all of your crimes. The countless cases of theft, murder, sexual abuse, all of it. You’re going to be locked away till you rot.”

She’s staring daggers at me but she knows I’ve won.

In mere seconds, Torix, Ycee and Crimson burst inside with ten IFPC police guards. They’re on Wesley in less time, tying her up and putting metal cuffs around her that restrict magic. I had them the gun and explain the situation. They go over to Luke to untie him and check for where the bullet went in. 

“One sec, before you take her away, get her to tell where I can find the two werewolves that know how I can get home,” I ask the guards as they’re about to bring her to her feet.  
“You heard him. Where are the people he’s looking for?” one of the police demands.

“As if I’d tell you,” she spits.

“Withholding information from registered intergalactic citizens is a federal offence and is sentenced with five years in prison,” the officer replies sternly.

She looks at him with wide eyes.  
“Fine. You can find them in the Southern Dimension, in a town called Hessr.” She glares at me as they drag her out of the room, leaving us alone with the officer looking over Luke.

“Is he going to be okay…?” Crimson asks the officer tentatively.

“He’s lucky, the bullet went through his arm. He’ll be fine after a few days with these bandages on,” the officer tells Crimson, finishing wrapping up Luke’s arm.

“Okay. Thank you, officer,” she says with a smile.

“Now come on you five, I’ll give you an escort back to your ship.”

“Thank you, officer,” Ycee replies as we all follow her out of the room.

It doesn’t take us long to get back to the ship and soon I have us settled back in. We rest Luke in our bed while I’m opening the portal. Crimson gives me a hand to open up the portal by settling my arms from shaking too much. Torix and Ycee assured me everything will be okay when I left them to bind Luke’s arm better than it had been and keep him company. Once the portals open enough for the ship to go through, I head into my pocket dimension by the passage of the cabin doorway so that I can check on Luke and rest next to him.


	16. Your Majesty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for rape, abusive relationships, forced pregnancy... you get the drift. Heavy chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Repeating this, but slanted text means they're talking in another language, but Lance can understand that language.

I dock the ship in the port. In front of me stands a huge maze of buildings. They’re built tall and close together, with bridges across to each other high up in the sky. The amount of people and the inclosed space terrifies me. 

I’m about to go tell the others we’re here when a small wave of emptiness hits me. I pause on the stairs, clinging to the railing as I try not to fall down the rest of the stairs, my high heeled boots tipping forwards.

_ Why…? _

“Lance?” Luke’s voice cuts through my mind.

“Take my hand,” Crimson’s voice adds and there’s a hand in front of me.

I take it and notice how much I’m trembling. Crimson grasps me firmly and Luke moves to my other side, holding his arm slightly. The two of them bring me down the stairs and to the cabin.

I sit down on my couch, staring at my feet.

“Lance, are you okay?” Crimson asks, sitting down next to me.

“Yeah, you can talk to us about anything,” Luke reassures, sitting in the arm chair next to me.

“I’m fine,” I mumble, still staring at my feet.

Crimson sighs, wrapping her arms around my torso and pulling me close to her.

“You’re not. We can see it. Come on Lance, let us in,” Crimson whispers, as they rub circles on my back.

There’s a silent pause before a choked sob leaves my throat. 

“You can leave if you want too... You don’t have to stay with me… I won’t mind...” I mumble between sobs, clinging to Crimson’s shirt.

_ Please stay… Don’t listen to a word I say… I can’t lose you again. _

Crimson presses their lips to my head as Luke squeezes behind me, adding to the makeshift hug.

“Lance, it’s okay. We aren’t going to leave. No matter what you say. Even if darkness is all you can see, we’ll still be here,” Luke whispers, resting his head on my shoulder.

“You don’t have to say what’s on your mind, just let us know how we can help,” Crimson adds, undoing my bun.

“I don’t know why, I just feel empty for some reason,” I murmur, running my hands through Crimson’s hair. “Like all the words I can’t take back suddenly flooded back to me…”

“You have all the rights to feel empty, to think that, it’s an emotion. Everyone feels it sometimes,” Crimson reassures me. “Is there anything we can do to help?” Luke asks.

“I don’t know… but it felt like these feelings weren’t mine. Like I was feeling someone else’s feelings. It’s stupid, I know…”

“It’s not stupid. There are plenty of reasons for feeling that way. Do you wanna wait until tomorrow to find these people?” Luke asks, kissing the back of my head.

“No, I have to find them. It’s like there’s something pulling me here, whispering in my ear to find them.” I sniff, wiping my face with a tissue that Luke hands me. I mumble a word of thanks to him.

“If you want to find these people, we’ll help you. The decision is yours to make,” Crimson says, letting go of me as I sit up. 

“Let’s find them. I need to go home.”

They nod and we stand up, moving to find the others.

##  _____________________

I step off my ship, the wind blowing my hair to the side as I walk down the dock towards the city. This time we’re lucky, the main language of this city is Ruliansh. We could’ve very easily been given directions to a city that speaks Tibali or Rioyin, two languages I know very little in but are extremely common on this planet, Adoyoma. 

A ball of anxiety and terror in my throat. 

_ If I find these two, I find my mom, but… what if she doesn’t want me? What if I can’t find the pair? What if they don’t tell me? What if there’s a reason I got lost? _

I’m pulled from my thoughts as Luke calls my name, running up behind me with Crimson, Torix and Ycee in tow.

“... You have to wait for us, silly,” he says, reaching out and taking my hand, grounding me. 

“Sorry,” I mumble, squeezing his hand, “It’s such a big city, and I just wanna go home…”

He gives me a soft, sympathetic smile. “I know, we’ll find them. But, we’ll find them together.” He gestures behind us to everyone else.

“Yeah, man. We got this,” Torix says, ruffling my hair.

“You’re not alone in this. You never were,” Crimson adds, giving me a reassuring smile and taking my other hand.

“Now, let’s go find two werewolves in the big city!” Ycee announces, starting off down the road with the rest of us following closely behind.

“Thanks, guys.” I smile as we walk by strangers, some of which I catch giving Torix and Ycee weird looks.

We make our way through the city, stopping every now and again to ask about the pair we’re searching for, but everyone gives us the same response; “who?”. It’s starting to sink my hopes of going home.

We’re standing in the middle of a courtyard that has food shops surrounding us when I see a tall man with long dark brown hair and a pair of fluffy brown dog ears in the crowd, my heart skips a beat and all my senses are pulling me towards him. The dog tail I had manifested for today to practice my shapeshifting starts wagging.

Without thinking, I push through the crowd towards him. It feels like my whole souls reaching through my body to get to him. I hear a few shouts from my friends, but they’re so quiet in my mind that I can’t understand enough to respond, I just keep going.

I’m halfway to him when he turns around and notices me. He stands there in shock and so do I as our eyes meet… that is until he turns around and flees.

I’m quick to follow him, now more out of curiosity than instinct. He runs up a set of stairs and I follow until we’re on the “second” level of the city, which is mostly just wooden walkways built around the buildings. 

“Wait! Please!” I call after him, trying to follow him without falling.

He seems to freeze momentarily before continuing.

“Please! Who are you?!” I continue, almost catching up to him.

Then he stops and turns around, and I finally get a good look at him.

He towers over-top of me, he must be at least six foot nine, large burly arms are crossed over his chest, clad in an unbuttoned red-plaid shirt over-top of a grey-shirt. His ears are now back and flat against his head and he’s slightly snarling at me.

“ _ I thought you never wanted to see me again, your majesty _ ,” he growls in Icceno, his deep brown eyes piercing me like daggers.

I freeze on spot, my eyes go wide at the stranger speaking Icceno. My tail tucks between my legs. 

_ Do I… do I know this person? _

“ _ I… what?... I’ve never… I don’t know who you are! _ ” I reply back in Icceno.

He looks surprised for a moment before it turns to anger.

“ _ How dare you! I knew you for years and this is how you treat me!? _ ” he shouts, his voice wavering slightly before turning away and moving to leave.

I reach out and grab his wrist. 

“ _ Please. I don’t know who you are, but you seem to know me… I wish I could remember who you are, but I can’t unless you tell me… _ ”

He doesn’t look back at me, but I can see his throat bob as he swallows.

“ _ You really don’t remember then, do ya?... that’s a shame, the first nine years of your life and you can’t remember… well, how about this… does the name, Dane, ring any bells? _ ” 

As soon as the name leaves his lips, a flood of memories come back to me. Of him, my mom, and another woman. I remember dark summer nights where the two of us would spend hours in my room and warm days when we’d walk the city streets…

“ _ Dane… _ ” the falls from my lips, barely even a whisper, but somehow, he catches it. Every fibre of my being is leaning towards him, kissing his lips in my mind… but I hold back.

“ _ Why didn’t you find me sooner…? _ ”

He looks at me shell shocked and then down to his feet guiltily.

“ _ I couldn’t… I saw, everything. I felt everything. Every time there was an article on you, every time another magazine was released, I read it. I could feel you through… _ ” he swallows, still not looking up, “ _ through the bond. I didn’t think you’d want me anymore... _ ”

“ _ What’s this about a bond? I… can’t remember anything… I couldn’t remember you, for some reason, I could only remember my mother and father until you told me your name _ .” 

There’s a guilty feeling hanging in my chest, bearing down on me.

He meets my gaze now.

“ _ Lance… _ ” my name hangs on his tongue, and I find myself wishing that it was more than my name.

“ _ That’s his fault, _ ” Dane spits.

I blink. “ _ Who _ ?”

“ _ Eryox _ .” His nose crumples as he spits the name out with a growl.

“ _ My- my father? _ ”

He merely growls in response and steps back as voices call to me from behind.

“LANCE!!” 

I turn around to see Torix, Ycee, Crimson and Luke heading towards me. I wave and turn back to Dane.

“This isn’t the place to explain, and I’m not the person to explain it. You have to come with me,” he sighs, “ _ and unfortunately, so do your friends it seems _ .”

He holds his hand out towards me. He’s still glaring at me and I can sense that he’s more than a bit standoff-ish still.

I reach out and take it none-the-less. I need answers.

##  _____________________

We took only the back roads to wherever Dane was leading us. I had the time to give the cliff-notes of what was going on to the others before we reached our destination, however, I now had more questions after I did so than before.

Dane stops us outside of a small one-storied house with the living room light on. He shuffles through his keys before unlocking the door and letting us inside.

“ _ Mom, I’m back! _ ” Dane calls into the house as the five of us shuffle inside after him awkwardly.

I’ve just taken my boots off when a curvy woman with long blonde hair held back in a bun and two fluffy dog ears, pokes her head into the doorway. 

She looks at me in shock at first and then a warm smile spreads across her lips and she opens her arms.

I recognize her, she was in the flash of memories I had. Holly. The woman who was with my mother.

I look at Dane to double-check that I can hug her. He nods at me.

Quickly, I walk towards her and let her envelop me in her arms. She feels like home.

“I’ve missed you so much honey,” she whispers, petting my hair and letting down my bun.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t remember anything until I found Dane today.” I hug her tightly.

“It’s okay, you found us, that’s all that matters. You’re home now.”

“Is- is mom here?” I whisper, taking a shot in the dark.

I can feel Holly tense up, and her tail swishes back and forth aggressively.

“I think it’s finally time someone tells you what really happened.” She lets me go from the hug.

“Okay…?”

“But first,” Holly walks over to the others, “you must be Crimson, I’ve read a lot about you, you always show up with Lance in the magazines.”

Crimson nods. “ _ I’m also his girlfriend. _ ” She winks at Holly, replying in Icceno.

“ _ I see! _ ” Holly beams. “I don’t know you,” she says to Torix, “however I know you, you’ve also appeared with Lance, but instead in interviews.”

“Mhm,” Ycee hums.

“And you’re..? I don’t know you but I can sense the connection you have to Lance. Who are you?”

Luke swallows. “I’m L-luke ma’am.” He sticks out his hand towards her. “I’ve known Lance for three years and we’re...” 

She takes his hand and pulls him into a hug.

“Ah, you’re his boyfriend! So you’re the other reason my son’s been feeling love from his side of the bond.”

Luke pulls away from the hug immediately.

“Ma’am I don’t wish to get in the middle of a werewolves bond. If they would be better than Lance and I, I’d rather see Lance happy than with me.”

Crimson nudges Luke with her elbow and gives him a look.

“Oh, dear. You’ve obviously already heard of polyamory if Lance is dating both you and Crimson, a werewolf is more than capable of sharing just as much as well as you.”

Luke looks down in embarrassment. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to make any assumptions.”

“It’s alright honey. You’re not from here, so you don’t know better.” She turns her attention to me again. “Lance, come with me. I owe you answers.” She waves for me to follow after her, and I shoot Luke a glance, brushing my hand against his as I follow her out.

##  _____________________

She leads me into a sitting room, there are two loveseats and a coffee table inside the room, as well as a large window. She sits down on one of the couches and gestures for me to do the same.

I already know my question before she even opens her mouth to speak. 

“How did you know my mother?” I ask with a soft voice, looking up at her, attempting to swallow the lump in my throat but it stays. 

The barest thought that I had found someone who could make my whole life’s biggest hope a reality. The very thought made my lip quivers and tears pool in the corners of my eyes.

She looked back at me with a caring smile, brushing her soft blonde hair behind her ear.

“She was the love of my life.”

The words didn’t process in my mind, they didn’t fit… “What?” I whispered, hoping she’d elaborate.

“ _ Your mother was my soulmate, _ ” Holly repeats patiently.

I can’t think of a response… all I can reply is “ _ How _ ?”.

“When your mom and I were sixteen, we fell in love. I was your mother’s handmaid, appointed by her mother. We had spent hours, talking and taking long walks, and I guess it just sort of happened…” she mused. I can see a soft smile spreading across her lips.

However, no matter how either of us is feeling, I still have questions. “But how did… what about my dad?”

She sighed “Of course, you want the truth… Where we’re from, Terene, it’s customary for the next ruler to come into power when they’re eighteen. Your mother was the only child of two of the greatest rulers we’d ever seen, your grandparents-”

“Why are you telling me this? I asked about my father!”

“I’m getting to that. Be patient…” She took a deep breath as if this was something that pained her to talk about. “A young man, about your age, stumbled into our dimension. He was tall, handsome and charismatic. He charmed his way to see your mother. Your mother was so kind-hearted. She gave him a room in the palace, and that night, he snuck into her room and…” Holly paused to wipe her tears away, “Sorry… he forced himself onto her-”

“ _ You mean raped her, _ ” I say without hesitation, shocking myself with my own words. She looks back at me with sorrow.

“I never wanted to think about it like that… but yes, he raped her. He started doing that regularly, and he managed to get into her head and manipulate her so she didn’t tell me until it was too late…”

“What do you mean too late?” 

“She attempted to tell her parents, but he found out when they confronted him and the next morning they were found dead in their beds. I should’ve known then, but I was out of town helping take care of my mother… Since I wasn’t there, she fled to her grandmothers, the kingdom’s highest healer. She helped take care of your mother, and tried to give her birth control…”

“But, it didn’t work, and when I got back she was pregnant. She told me everything that happened, but we had no way of stopping him, he was impossible to kill, all we knew was that he’d find out about our relationship unless we did something to hide it. And if he found out, he’d kill both of us out of disgust, Eyrox was extremely homophobic.”

“My… Eyrox was… well, he’d be ecstatic to see me now.” I laugh slightly, trying to process the information.

Holly chuckles slightly, before catching my nod to resume… “So, like the dumb twenty-one year-olds, we were, we made a plan. I would get pregnant, and we’d raise the two babies together like best friends. So I went out and slept with the first person who offered... It didn’t take much, and I was eventually pregnant with Dane. Our plan turned out to work, and Eyrox never found out about us. We raised you and Dane with the most love we could, you two were inseparable, however, we missed a key detail. A werewolf’s imprint is near impossible to miss, but somehow, we missed yours.”

“Wait, hold up, you’re saying…? That Dane and I?” I run a hand through my hair and look down at the floor. There’s a guilty feeling hanging in my stomach now, this can’t be true… It feels like there’s a hand wrapped tightly around my neck, stopping my breath.

“Lance, Dane imprinted on you when you two were born. Somehow, you two were soulmates for each other, that’s why you two were inseparable. I had already imprinted on your mom but it had been bonded already so Eyrox never noticed. Unfortunately, we found out when you were both nine, and so did Eyrox. He immediately discarded us, throwing us into different dimensions, but keeping your mother hostage… lord only knows what he’s done to her… We spent all our time trying to find you, but you were impossible to track down. When we heard rumours of a red-headed pirate captain who stole a ship in the Central dimension, we knew how to find you and started following your movements, dropping hints of our whereabouts hoping you’d find us.”

I sit there in silence. My mom wasn’t why I was longing home. It was Dane. My soul was trying to find the other piece that had been ripped from me. It’s fucking hard to wrap my head around and I find myself tugging at my hair, trying to piece it together.

“However, I think we have a bit of a problem on our hands. Dane is being very cautious of you,” Holly continues, “I’ve very worried that something is wrong. He’s not usually like this. I’m worried that your bond is wavering from the distance.”

I don’t know how to respond, so I nod that I heard her.

“Honey…” she places a hand on my knee, “ _ I know this is a lot to process and I’ll answer any questions you have, but I can feel your soul hurting. I had my soulmate ripped away from me as well, but you have the chance to be with yours now. You should give him a chance _ ,” Holly urges me, standing up and offering me a hand. 

“ _ But first, take as much time as you need. Compose yourself, my dear. You don’t have to rush to him _ .”

“ _ Giving him a chance isn’t the problem, it’s if he’ll let me _ .”

I stand up and she wraps her arms around me, hugging me tightly. I hug her back as she rubs my back softly, swaying side-to-side. 

“ _ Don’t push him. Let him do it his own way. My son is a complicated man, and remember, he’s not your species, he has different ways of courting a mate. If he does something that you’re uncomfortable with, let him know, he’ll listen _ .”

“ _ I just wish I was here sooner. I’ve been trying to find my way back home all my life but I think I was just trying to find my way back to you and him. But it’s created more problems than it’s solved. I have to find my father _ ,” I growl the last part, the rage building in my stomach.

“ _ Honey, we’ve been trying to find you as well. For now, take a break, we finally found each other. We can deal with him when we have a plan _ .”

“ _ I just want this to be over. Who knows what he’s done to her _ .” My voice breaks and tears rush forwards, the gravity of everything finally hitting me like a truck.

I collapse back onto the couch as I cry into her shoulder, it just bubbles out in endless waves, all the anxiety, fear and lostness of sixteen years coming back out.

“ _ I’m sorry. _ ”

“ _ I’m sorry too. _ ”


	17. Hngh Werewolf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Legit had no ideas for the chapter title. 
> 
> Warning for sex (also non-human sex because Dane has a knot - I'm an Omegaverse writer, sue me).
> 
> Practice safe sex kiddos! Even if you're unsure it doesn't hurt.

After an hour, Holly and I exited the small room. I had cleaned up my face and tucked my shirt back into my pants so that what happened didn’t show. Unfortunately, my eyes were still red.

She leads me to the living room of the house where everyone’s spread out on a large couch and two chairs, talking animatedly with each other. Crimson and Luke are sitting close together, I smile at that, and are talking to Dane. He seems to be happy.

The moment I step into the living room, Luke and Crimson rush over to me. Dane hangs back by the couch, looking like he wants to rush over too.

“Lance are you okay?”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine guys. Don’t worry, I’ll explain in a moment.” I wipe my eyes on my sleeve.

Luke huffs and wraps his arms around my waist, hugging me. Crimson does the same. However, even though we’re all there, it feels empty. 

I watch as Luke gingerly takes an arm away and extends it towards Dane.

He blinks, looking at the arm and then us. We smile reassuringly and I gesture him over the best I can.

This seems to reassure him and he quickly shuffles over and Luke tucks him into the hug. I can feel his smile against the crook of my neck as we shift so he can comfortably join the hug.

A little part of me starts to feel like home again.

Moments pass before Holly coughs.

“I’m not one to tell you guys how to sort this out, but, why don’t you two go to Dane’s room and do this privately? I’ll make dinner and call you when it’s ready. Crimson or Luke can give me a hand.”

We pull apart.

“Ooh I’ve always wanted to help someone cook,” Crimson says with a smile, pulling away quickly. 

I cough. “Oh, yeah we can do that… is that okay with you?” I look over at Dane.

He blinks and looks back at me. “Y-yeah that works.”

“I’ll see you two in a bit then.” Holly nods, giving us a reassuring smile.

I smile back and Dane walks off. I quickly peck Crimson and Luke on the cheeks before shuffling off after him.

We walk silently down the hallway. I don’t know what to say to strike up a conversation with him, so I wait to see what he’ll do.

Eventually, we stop at a large dark-brown wooden door that has two locks on it; one on the doorknob and the other over top the doorknob.

Wordlessly, Dane opens the door and gestures me inside. I comply and step inside and I’m immediately transported to the coziest place on the planet.

Around me, the walls are painted a dark grey-brown. Small fairy lights are strung around the top edges of the walls and soft white curtains hang in front of a medium-sized south-facing window. There’s a queen-sized bed in the corner of the room, pushed against the wall that’s littered with blankets and pillows. Across the floor, there are one or two odd items of clothing. On the eastern wall, there’s a bookcase with so many books it might break and the north-facing wall has a built-in closet.

“It’s really cozy in here,” I comment, looking over and giving Dane a small smile as he shuts the door behind us.

“Yeah,” he mumbles in response, trecking over to the bed and shedding his plaid shirt so he’s left in a dark-grey tanktop.

I watch as he settles down on top of the bed and the realization hits me. 

The bed’s more than just a simple bed, it’s his nest. Instead of invading his nest, I settle down on the floor, not wanting to sit in his safe-haven without permission. I’m mildly dying in my t-shirt and black skinny jeans, but I don’t want to be rude, even if I am a million degrees.

We sit in awkward silence for what seems like hours. Each of us trying to figure out how to put our thoughts in words to the other. I’m yearning to feel his arms around me, but I don’t want to startle him and make him recede away from me more.

Eventually, the silence is overwhelming.

“I don’t really know what to say. There’s too much that I don’t know where to start,” I say, hoping he’ll understand.

He sighs. “I thought it was just me. I’m not good with words, or anything like this.”

“That makes two of us,” I chuckle, the heaviness of the room lifting from my shoulders.

“Well, it’s hard to talk to someone on the floor… come sit with me?” he offers. I can hear the sincerity in his voice, it hits me like a truck.

“You… you want me to sit in your nest with you?” I repeat for clarity, unsure of what I heard.

“Y-yeah. If you don’t want to then you don’t have to but I just thought that maybe you could-”

I cut him off from his ramblings by standing up and sitting on the edge of the nest gingerly. I reach behind my head and untie my bandana, a watermelon themed one and extend it out to him. It’s traditional to offer a werewolf a piece of your clothing when entering their nest since werewolves only ever invite mates into their nests. He takes the bandana as I sink right into the nest, letting his scent wraps over me like a warm blanket as he tucks away the bandana into the nest. His scent smells like marshmallows over an open flame and dark nights in a forest.

The silence falls back on us, however this time it’s less of uncomfortable and more like the silence that two old friends fall into.

I struggle to find something to say to break the silence. 

“Fuck this!” he exclaims, falling backwards. “This is too damn hard! I’m not some fucking fragile glass animal that’ll break if you say the wrong thing! I just want to kiss you until we both pass out!”

I stare at him like a deer in headlights.   
“Dane, I…” I stutter, trying to respond as images flash through my mind.   
“You’re right. Fuck this.”  
I bend down and passionately press my lips to his. 

His arms are around my hips in seconds, pulling me closer to him. I steady myself by placing my hands next to my sides but I feel like I might collapse. 

However, even with all the energy in my body, I can’t stay above him and I fall to the side as my arms give out. My face presses into the sheets and I stay there out of embarrassment.

He starts chuckling next to me.  
“You okay?” he asks, resting a hand on my hip.

“Y-yeah. Sorry, I kinda fell,” I mumble through the sheets.

“I can tell,” he whispers, running his hand up and down my hip.

Memories from earlier that day immediately consume me. Particularly the one where I decided to swap my dick for a labia… 

I bolt up in the bed, scooting away from him quickly as any non-human parts shift back out of existence from my body.

“Dane I don’t know about this…” I whisper, putting my hand over my crotch to cover it. 

“Why?” he looks at me like I kicked his puppy.

“Sorry, it’s not you, it’s just that I was messing around earlier today with my shapeshifting and-”

“You did it again!” Dane snorts, cracking a smile.

“I… what?”

“When we were kids, you’d always play around with your appearance, you’d tell everyone to refer to you like a girl because you had girl parts today, and vice versa,” Dane explains, shifting closer to me on the bed. “You didn’t even know what a girls parts looked like!”

I can feel my face burning hot red.   
“I didn’t remember that…”

“Eyrox never liked it when you did it. He must’ve taken those memories away.”

“Oh…”

“But Lance, if you’re comfortable right now, in this body, then why would I stop you?” Dane whispers, resting his hand on my jaw,

Forgetting words, I lean forwards, pressing my lips to his. It’s heated and passionate as he runs his hands down my torso and hips and I slip mine underneath his shirt. He’s got the buttons undone to my vest and shirt undone before I can even get his shirt off his head and I’m left with my torso exposed with him running his fingers through the tufts of hair across my chest.

My hands grip his shirt and pull it upwards, disconnecting our lips only to reconnect them slightly open, deepening the kiss. My hands wander down his chest as his beefy arms move us, pushing me down underneath him. There’s a slight squish to his stomach as my hands travel lower. Curious hands make quick work as my fingertips brush against his crotch. 

Straining against his jeans is his hard cock. I get a slight idea and cup as much of it as I can with my palm. It barely fits in my hand but damn does it earn a satisfying moan as he shivers atop me. 

This is never going to fit...

Teasingly, I undo the buttons to his jeans, trying to draw out the inevitable. He groans as his cock pushes the zipper of his pants open for me and his hands find their way into my hair. As I palm his bulge from the outside of his boxers, he pulls on my hair. A moan escapes my lips and I squeeze his cock in shock and pleasure, earning another groan from him.

He pulls back from the kiss, sitting up.   
“You fucking tease,” he whispers as his hands go to my pants, undoing my belt, button and zipper and tugging them off in a matter of seconds.

“Someone’s impatient,” I taunt, moving to sit up and tease him more.

A hard hand to my chest pushes me back down.  
“Oh no. You started this, I’m finishing,” he growls, standing up in the nest and removing his pants and boxers.

I gulp at the sight. He’s even bigger than I could feel through the boxers. It’s perfectly sculpted, a soft pink tip at the top, and a length that has to be at least thirteen inches, ending in a bulbous knot. If the length doesn’t do it, the girth surely will. I definitely couldn’t fit my hand around it.

“That’s never going to fit,” I whisper, more to myself, as he settles back down.

“Oh, it’ll fit. That’s the thing about shapeshifters, they can take anything,” he replies, tugging on the band to my boxer-briefs.

My face flushes red as he pulls them off. It’s not my greatest handiwork. Still, he rubs his thumb gently up and down my lips, spreading them apart. He’s barely touched me but his finger still manages to push inside me with ease. I can hardly keep up with what’s going on as he adds more fingers, stretching me out as far as he can until his whole hands spread out.

“Such a good boy, look how well you stretch,” he praises, drawing his hand out.

A small whine escapes my lips and I turn my head to the side quickly as I flush red from his words.

“Oh, don’t be so embarrassed. Is the name okay? Do you want something else? I haven’t really done this before…” he admits, running his clean hand on my jaw.

“No, the names fine, please use the name. You’re doing great, it’s just… so much,” I reply, in Ruliansh and Icceno.

“I know, but there’s a reward if you take it all,” he whispers back.

I watch as he runs his wet hand down his dick, coating it slightly before rummaging through the nightstand next to his bed. He takes out a small bottle of lube and practically covers his cock in the lube. 

“Condom?” he asks, looking at me patiently.

“Don’t have ovaries, don't need a condom,” I squeak, my hand sneaking down to fiddle with my clit as he preps himself.

“Okay,” he nods, tossing the empty bottle over his shoulder and shifting forwards.  
He moves my hand off myself and I close my eyes, resting my hand on my stomach. He’s pressing the tip to me, it’s cold from the lube, a stark contrast to the heat radiating from my body.

Without a warning, he pushes his hips forwards, the head slipping into me. A strangled moan mixed with a gasp leaves my mouth as I grab at the blanket underneath me. 

“You like that? Then prove it. Let the whole house know how good it feels,” Dane growls as a warning as he thrusts again.

I squirm, he’s big, so very big. From where my hand is resting I can feel him through my stomach.

He lowers his head to be inches away from mine.  
“Fuck, you’re tight. Such a good boy for taking me,” he whispers to me before pressing his lips against mine hungrily.

He keeps going, slowly letting me adjust as he adds more and more. My stomachs tense when he finally brushes his knot against me. He stops all movement when his knot hits me. It’s driving me crazy how long he’s waiting.

My hand reaches up and finds the back of his head. I take a grasp on his hair and pull. His lips pull off of mine as he gasps, his eyes rolling back into his head.

“Fuck me, pet,” I whisper in his ear, bring his head down next to mine.

He doesn’t move until I nip at his neck. His hips stutter forwards before moving back and forth slowly, gaining more and more speed. 

I bite on his neck, sucking on it hard enough to leave a dark purple hickey on his skin. I keep biting and leaving hickeys, sinking my teeth into his flesh. Each time, he goes faster, turning into a moaning mess on top of me.

My hands start to get adventurous, roaming his chest and playing with his nipples, earning another satisfying moan from his lips.

With one hand on his chest, I rub myself to his thrusts as they get more sporadic and uneven. His knot is hitting against me more now, and I can tell he’s getting desperate. He hasn’t lasted long but to no surprise. 

Werewolves never have that much stamina.

He starts to moan pleases in my ear, begging me for something he won’t put into words.

“Tell me, pet. I can’t say yes unless you tell me,” I whisper, wiggling my hips.

“Please… can I… I need to finish… can I knot you?” he whispers in my ear in a raspy, needy voice as he grinds his knot against me.

“Since you’ve been such a good pet, I’ll allow it,” I reply back, tugging playfully on his hair.

A sigh of relief escapes his lips, brushing against my neck as I feel his hips thrust forwards. I quickly pull his lips onto mine as he pushes his knot into me. I’m not sure it’ll fit, but damn he’s persistent enough to try.

A shock ripples through my body as his hips snap forwards and he bottoms out. A gasp cuts into the kiss, mixed with a moan as he grinds into me. It’s more than a pleasant feeling, drawing both of us closer until the elastic inside both of us snaps.

His lips move from mine to my neck and he bites down, hard. Drawing blood from my skin as he starts to finish inside me. I’m not going to pretend I went deaf, countless moans and a stream of curses left my mouth as I finished with him.  
After a few moments, once we’d both calmed down, even though he was still finishing, he shifts us to our sides to let his knot deflate.

“So, tell me about Luke. How’d you guys meet?” he whispers, giving me a smile and curious eyes.

I blink back at him. “I, uh, are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. I want to know so that I can connect with him too.”

His comment just raises more questions.  
“Are you trying to… catch his eye?”

Cause you already have.

He laughs again. “I don’t really know. I just find him cute and I want to know about your past. Luke was just a point to start on.”

“Oh. Yeah, I can tell you.”

He beams at me, and shifts slightly, getting comfy and using his arm as a pillow.

I think of where to start.

“So, I used to work for him. When I was in the Eastern Dimension I was looking for work and came across his book shop…”  
_____________________

I walk into a small, cozy-looking shop. All around me there are books. There was a help-wanted poster outside the shop, so I’m looking for the owner.

“Hello?” I call out into the shop. “Anyone here?”

It doesn’t take long for a short, semi-curvy, black man dressed in a soft white knit sweater with a light-brown infinity scarf and a pair of light blue high-waisted jeans to come to greet me.

Fuck he’s cute.

“Hi! How may I help you today?” he chirps and I do a double-check when his voice sounds feminine.

“I saw your, um, sign out front. I was wondering if you still had the position open?” 

“Ah, yes, the positions still open. Would you like to apply?”

“Yeah.” I nod.

“Lovely! Do you mind filling out something for me then?” he chirps.

“Of course.”

Without a second word he turns and walks over to the counter/desk at the side of where we were standing and pulls out a clipboard and sheet of paper with a pencil and hands it to me.

“This, please! You can sit anywhere in the shop.”

I take the sheet and nod, moving over to a corner in the front of the shop that has two armchairs. I sit down in the plush red one and begin filling out the form.

It has a few basic questions like; place of residence, work experience, name and age. As well as a few specific ones such as; favourite book series and are you willing to work flexible hours?

I fill them all out and get up to find the man, and realize I don’t know his name.

I find him in the back of the shop, filing books away.

“Hey, I finished,” I say.

He jumps and looks over at me.  
“You startled me! Don’t sneak up on me like that,” he laughs, taking the sheet from me.

“S-sorry.”

I stand there awkwardly as he looks over the sheet, humming to himself.

“Everything here seems in order. How soon can you start?” he asks me.

“Whenever you need me. But, one question first…”

“Of course, ask away.” He turns back to the books, setting the sheet down the coffee table next to him.

“What’s your name?”

He pauses for a moment like he’s debating with himself.  
“... It’s Luke,” he tells me after a moment.

“Nice name. So, anything you need help with?"


	18. How Are You This Stupid?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for amputation! This gets dark.

“And I just kinda worked for him a while. After a few days, we had grown close and became good friends. There’s not much too it.”

“That’s really sweet, I wish I could’ve seen that develop.” Dane smiles, resting his hand on my jaw.

“And now you’re here to develop with us. So much has happened over the years, we’ve got lots of stories you’ll love to hear about, and maybe you have a few as well?”

“Of course, I’ll tell you stories till I die.”

He starts to lean down towards me for a kiss. I push up, connecting our lips halfway. It’s a gentle kiss as we lay there, getting used to the feel of the other next to us, and the taste of their mouth. 

I could’ve stayed like that forever.

Unfortunately, Crimson burst into the room.

“Lance! Dane! JESUS CHRIST! MEN!” they shout, adverting her gaze. “GET DRESSED AND COME QUICK! Somethings wrong with Luke!” they tell us as they’re already down the hall again.

I exchange a look with Dane pulls out of me before both of us bolt out of the bed, grabbing random pieces of clothing from the floor and rush with Crimson back to the living room. 

Dressed in a half-buttoned and still doing up my belt. I did my best to clean up our mess but I was rushed. Thank god I rushed because we found Luke is laying on the couch, clutching his arm where the bullet went in.

“Fuck! That bitch did something to the bullet, didn’t she!?” I rush towards Luke and scoop him up bridal style.

“L-lance, don’t worry, I feel fine,” Luke whispers weakly to me, still holding onto his arm as sweat builds upon his brow.

I can feel my protective instincts kicking in, large, brown, bird wings form from my back and ripping my shirt, wrapping around Luke.   
“Luke, you are very definitely not fine. Now shut the fuck up and let me get you to a hospital,” I silence him, looking over frantically at Dane and Holly.

Dane gestures for me to follow him and I do, as quickly as possible. 

“Crimson grab me my jacket and bag please!” I shout over my shoulder as I rush after Dane.

We rush out of the house, after putting out shoes on, and down the street. People jump out of our way as we rush down the street, probably out of fear and panic from seeing a werewolf and shapeshifter rushing towards them with a human.

It takes ten minutes to reach the hospital; a long, light-brown building with a large window on its front wall, displaying the lobby.

As we rush towards the doors, two people spot us from inside and one opens them for us while the other tells the nurse at the front desk.

“HELP!! MY BOYFRIEND WAS SHOT WITH A DELAYED POISON BULLET!!!” I yell into the lobby, trying to fight back tears.

The five nurses rush up to me with a stretcher. I set Luke down on top of it and run after them as they rush him into the hospital. However, one stops me before I can go through the double doors after him.

“I’m sorry… sir…? But you can’t go with him. I know he’s your boyfriend, and we’re going to do everything we can to help him. Can you come with me? I’ll take you to the waiting area and you can explain everything to me,” she says politely, resting her arm on my shoulder.

I nod, as Dane walks with us as well, resting his hand on my back, between my wings. I keep my arms firmly cross over my chest as I fret about Luke…

Once we sit down, I explain everything to the nurse and she nods, saying that it’ll help. She also tells me there are some admittance forms to fill out, and asks if I can since Luke can’t. I remember to tell her that he’s from the Eastern Dimension, and that he’s transgender, so they know how to properly treat him. 

She nods through the whole thing and takes the form when I’m done, leaving Dane and me with a promise of updates at every possible moment.

After a few minutes, we’re joined by everyone else. Crimson and Dane sit at my sides, trying to comfort me, but it doesn’t work. I notice the community nest in the corner of the room, meant for werewolves, dragons, and any other person who’d need a nest but couldn’t go home while waiting for whoever’s being treated.

I move to the nest and curl up under my wings, hoping that this was all some bad dream. 

_____________________

It takes hours before we’re allowed to see Luke. They’ve given us hourly updates on his status and all the tests they had to do. Yet they haven’t given us the update for the current hour.

A doctor comes to get us from the waiting room. As we’re lead down the long, sterile hallway, a knot of anxiety builds in my stomach. 

My, heart drops as I see him lying in the hospital bed. It looks like it’ll swallow him, and all the tubes coming out of his body only worsen the knot in my stomach.

“I’m sorry to tell you this, but Luke needs surgery. His arm was infected by a poison called Bonroxyl. It’s a slow-spreading poison that’s extremely hard to detect and only starts acting up after the first two hours. The poison is intended to lace bullets so they kill their victims instantly, when injected into the heart or brain it works much faster. However, injected anywhere else and it corrodes nerves, causing the victim to lose all sensation in the affected area. If it spreads to the heart, lungs, or brain, it will kill him in under five minutes,” the doctor explains calmly.

Luke and I exchange frightened looks. “Is there any way to stop it, or cure him?” I whisper, moving to Luke’s side, my wings curling around me.

“There is. Unfortunatley, there’s no known cure, however, we can amputate his arm.”

Luke reaches out with his good arm and squeezes my hand. I look him in the eyes. That’s his left arm, his entire left arm, the poison’s already reached past his elbow and up to his bicep, there’s a tie wrapped around his arm to prevent it spreading past the arm.

His left arm is the one he draws with, the one he writes with. 

This is all my fault. If he hadn’t come along, he would’ve been safe. This would’ve never happened.

“Luke… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… this is all my fault, you should’ve never come with me, that bullet was meant for me…” I sob, crumbling into myself.

“Lance, it wasn’t your fault. You tried to protect me. You faced her to keep me safe… please don’t cry. They’ve made amazing advances with prosthetics. I’ll be fine,” he whispers, stroking my hand with his thumb.

“B-but it’s your dominant hand! The one you draw and write with!” 

“Then I’ll just learn to use my other one or get a prosthetic that will allow me to do so. We can manage. I’d rather be with you for fifty more years than five more minutes. I’m doing this.”

“...okay…”

He nods to the doctor and Dane and Crimson carefully move me as they prep him for surgery. 

“It’ll only take a few hours, he’ll be back before you know it,” the doctor assures us as they wheel him away.

All I can do is nod as Dane and Crimson comfort me with Holly, Torix and Ycee’s help.

I can’t tell you how much time passed. At some point, Holly gestured a nurse into the room and asked if outside food was allowed in the hospital and, after getting confirmation, she took Torix and Ycee to get us some food. Leaving the three of us curled up in the chairs together, comforting each other. 

They didn’t know Luke as well as I did, so I took the time to tell them stories about him. About the time we spent together at his shop, how I convinced him to join me on the crazy adventure, the time he published his a novel and it sold out in the first week and the series became a universally renowned series and how happy he was when it did. Even the story behind the cuff he tattoed on his right bicep and how Luke spent hours designing and inking it to be perfect.

We waited for hours, Holly brought back food and we ate as I shared small stories about Luke. The food brought back resembled the Chinese food I could get in the Central dimension by going to Earth but mixed with Dragonic food, it was lots of sweet, sticky noodles, beef and chicken covered in spicy and sour sauce, and root vegetables from Dragon planets. It was delicious. Meaty and hearty, definitely comfort food.

It was late into the night when they wheeled Luke back into the room. If I had to guess, it around one in the morning. Luke’s anesthetic was still wearing off, so we caught up on a few hours of sleep. 

During our nap, a nurse must’ve come in and taken the tube from Luke’s throat when he woke up enough to breathe on his own.

In the morning, I finally got to take in just how much of his arm was gone… 

They took all the way up, leaving only a third of his upper arm. He’d need a prosthetic for the rest of his life. 

“Hey Lance,” he whispered as I was looking over his arm. 

I hadn’t realized he was awake.  
“H-hey boo, how you doing?” I whispered back, sitting back down in my chair next to his bed.

“I’m okay. I can’t feel my arm anymore so I guess that’s new,” he comments, trying to crack a smile.

“You scared me… don’t do that again. Don’t get hurt like that again… okay?” 

He chuckles. “Okay, I promise,” he replies sincerely. “But it was for a noble cause, we found Holly and Dane. Now we can find your mom.”

“That doesn’t make up for it…”

“No, but it’s a start,” Dane joins in, sitting next to me. “Welcome back Luke. Lance told us so many stories while you were gone.”

“Really?” Luke cocks an eyebrow at him with a smile.

“Yeah, he told us about your universally renowned novel…” Dane starts.

“...and the tattoo you did on his arm,” Crimson finishes, sitting on the other side of his bed.

“I didn’t even think you’d remembered…” Luke whispered, looking up at me.

“Of course he remembered. He talked about it all the time,” Ycee stated, moving forward with Torix. 

“He wanted to send you a gift on the anniversary but he couldn’t find anything that would match how great of an accomplishment it was,” Crimson recalled.

“When we get back to the ship, you have to show me the first novel. I’d love to read it,” Holly added, sitting next to Dane.

“I… of course.”

“Sorry to cut your heartwarming conversation short, but I need to explain some things to the patient and his partner,” the doctor apologized, stepping into the room.

“Partners,” Luke corrects her.

“Okay, partners. Those being…?”

“Ah, the three of us,” Crimson says, pointing to herself, Dane and I.

“Very well. You’ll need to stay here for two weeks, we’ll fit you with a prosthetic before you leave. Refrain from strenuous activities for two months. If your stitches rip or anything feels wrong, go to a hospital and they’ll check and make sure. I’ll give you these pamphlets on prosthetics so you can be informed on what’ll come. Any questions?” 

“No, that pretty much answers any question I had. Thank you,” Luke says, forcing a smile.

“Well, do you let me know if you decide you have any questions. I’ll be happy to answer any that come to mind.” 

I smile at him politely and nod my head.   
“Thank you, sir.” 

He nods and walks off into the hall, closing the door behind himself. 

I turn to look at Luke.   
“You sure you’re okay?”

He looks at me with a little forlorn expression before sighing.   
“Yeah I’m okay, for now, this is... this is new but I…” His sentence breaks as tears roll down his cheeks. “N-no I’m not,” he sobs, “This is horrible! This is everyone’s worst nightmare Lance! What am I going to do?! I’m an artist!”

I freeze, I don’t know what to say. I didn’t expect him to break down in front of me.

Thankfully Dane comes swooping in.   
“Hey Luke,” he starts, bolting up and wrapping his arms around him. “It’s okay, you’ve got us. You don’t have to cry or be scared, we’ll help you.”

There’s a soft pause while Crimson and I move to join the hug as well and comfort Luke. 

Once he’s calmed down again, a small whispery “thanks” is all that it leaves his lips.


	19. Hospital Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because people don't just overcome trauma in a few hours. This chapter has some heavy angst
> 
> Also a few sexual remarks.

The next few weeks fly by in a blur. Most of it’s spent sitting around and talking. Dane and Crimson come and go often, but they give us space, I wouldn’t have minded if they stayed, however, Luke said he just wanted to be alone with me. I think somehow he knew the guilt of eating me alive. Torix and Ycee had decided to take this time to venture out throughout the city, they mostly left us alone, bringing in small gifts for Luke to eat or play with. It was always just me and Luke going to his physiotherapy appointments, upon Luke’s request.

I think a part of him wanted Dane to be there a bit more than he was. I could see it in his eyes and hear it in the way he talked about him. Not that I minded. If he was getting attached to Dane it was a good sign. It meant he’d be more comfortable around him, especially if we all ended up living together.

However, Dane was prevented from being there at all during one of the weeks. His monthly rut occurred during this time. So, to make it safer for everyone involved, I gave him a room in my pocket dimension that he could access from his closet so he could spend his rut in peace without disturbing anyone else. After his rut ended, he did spend a lot more time with Luke and I, curled up in Luke’s hospital bed and shooting the breeze with us.

Most of our hospital time we spent cuddling in the hospital bed, just the two of us with Dane and Crimson rotating in and out, as he healed. Torix brought books and other things from the shop and I read them to Luke, as well as helping him attempt to draw with his right hand. He got frustrated when he couldn’t get his ideas down and they ended up wonky, so I attempted to help him out, it always ended in laughter because we both knew I couldn’t draw.

His prosthetic was a touchy subject. He didn’t really like discussing with anyone besides me, so I ended up telling the doctors most of the things and they just double-checked with him as he nodded along, making sure that everything that I relaying to them was true. Eventually, he wound up with a prosthetic that made him happy. 

A shiny silver arm, with a full range of motion. The joints had scrunchy tube-like protection so the wires wouldn’t be affected. The inside was lined with soft silky material to keep his arm from getting rubbed the wrong way. To easily connect the arm with his shoulder there was a button and a couple of snaps.

He tested it out quite a few times, however, every time he did, he asked me to leave the room after it was on. When I’d return I’d find him crying on his bed, I’d help him out of the arm and his answer was always the same; he’d always look at me and smile and tell me was fine, but I could see it in his eyes it wasn’t fine or close to being fine he just didn’t know how to tell me.

With no way of knowing how to help him, I ended up sitting with him a lot in silence, hoping he’d explain or ask for help. When they finally discharged him from the hospital, we spent so much time sitting on my ship, just on the edge of the deck as the rocking ocean swayed the ship side to side, like the oceans back in the Eastern Dimension.   
_____________________

It’s morning and Luke left the bed early. I know because I felt him leave as the bed dipped from loosing the weight. It didn’t take me long to get up as well, pulling on a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, I head to the kitchen to cook up breakfast. Catching a look out the window I spot him sitting on the ledge of the ship like always. I grab four eggs from the fridge and crack them into the pan on the stove and let them fry as I chop up some sausage to fry as well.

Once I’ve finished breakfast, I plate it onto two plates and step outside, sitting next to him on the ledge. I don’t really know what to do for him, but I sure as hell can make sure he doesn’t starve.

I set his plate next to him and dig into mine.  
“Eat Luke, you need to have food,” I say through a mouthful of food. “Please?”

I hear him sigh next to me and pick up the plate, resting it in his lap and picking at the eggs.

He eats about half of the food and then hands it to me. I sigh and finish it off for him before taking the plates inside.

“Let me know if you get hungry. We have plenty of food,” I tell him, running my fingers through his hair gently.

Inside, I set the plates on the counter next to the sink and grab my guitar before heading back outside. 

He watches as I settle down next to him with the acoustic guitar, a sad smile on his face. I start to play the song I wrote for him and halfway through I feel him rest his head on my shoulder.

I play music for the rest of the day until he says we should go inside. That night he helps me prepare dinner and we rest together on my bed after dinner and I let him run his hand through my hair.

We don’t exchange much words, apart from yes or no questions, but it works for now, so I let him go at his own pace.  
_____________________

The next week was a lot of sitting quietly as Luke traced his fingers of a prosthetic as it sat in his lap, his shirt tied halfway up his arm. It looked quite silly but I wasn’t one to judge, eventually, Holly did tailor his shirt so it looks like it was just another sleeve. It was nice of her to do so.

We had a little routine, I’d make breakfast, we’d play guitar till dinner and then afterwards we’d read or talk quietly until we fell asleep. I usually carried the conversation, but it drew him from his thoughts so It seemed to draw his mind off of the arm and he’d lean on his right arm and watch me play, the prosthetic attached to his left. I think somehow he got used to the prosthetic by doing this because he started wearing it more often.

We slept on the ship, it didn’t feel right to sleep at Holly’s house, Crimson and Dane usually slept with us, but they rarely spent the day with us. The ship was anchored in the middle of the lagoon, Ycee usually shifted back to dragon form to get the others across to the ship. We ate a whole lot of pizza, per Luke’s request.  
_____________________

“Guess who’s hear?!” Dane called, stepping onto the ship with Crimson.

“We brought pizza! Pineapple, just like Luke likes!” Crimson adds in, holding two boxes of pizza.

I stand to my feet and offer Luke a hand up, we’d been watching the waves and I’d been littering him with kisses to make him feel better about wearing the prosthetic.

“Hey guys, come on, let’s eat inside,” I say, hugging Dane and then taking the boxes from Crimson. 

Out of the corner of my eye I catch Luke saddle up to Dane and Dane wrap his arm around Luke, resting his hand on his waist as Luke leant into him.

I step inside the ship, setting the pizza boxes down on the counter and getting out four plates.

“Where do you guys wanna eat?” I ask, handing them plates.

“Do you still have the movie room?” Crimson requests, getting themself three slices of pepperoni and green pepper pizza, their favourite.

I watch Luke’s eyes light up at the question as he looks at me hopefully. 

“Of course I do! Follow me!” I chuckle, leading the three of them out of the kitchen and down the hall to a set of doors like an entrance to an olden times movie theatre.

Luke gasps as the doors open to a small walkway that leads to rows of seats that resemble old photos of theatres.

“Lance, how’d you manage this?!” Luke squeaks, running up the steps to the middle row, where I had a special cross between a bed and a couch installed for comfort.

“I had a few friends who were interior designers and specialized in old buildings and rooms. I gave them the pocket space here to build me a theatre,” I explain, following Luke up the rows.

“Mhm, Lance had a few friends who loved decoration his space. Do you know that the whole ships interior is actually just a pocket dimension and the door is just one entrance to it? He can make an entrance anywhere he’d like and it would still lead here,” Crimson adds in, sitting next to Dane on Luke’s other side. 

“That’s so cool! Lance you never mentioned that!” 

“You never asked.”

Luke sticks his tongue out at me and I can see a genuine smile on his face. It almost strikes me blind.

“So what do you want to watch?” 

“Do you have those old space movies? You know the ones made on Earth about space and traveling the universe?” Dane asks, biting into a piece of pizza.

“The ones who can move things with their minds?” I reply, moving to go to the back room.

“That’s the one.” Dane nods.

“Coming right up!” I announce, stepping into the back room and selecting the correct movie and popping it into the projector. It’s old tech, but it’s been resorted to run properly. I make sure it starts playing on the screen before heading back down to eat.

We spend the rest of the evening binging as much of the series as we can until we all pass out in nest.  
_____________________

At the end of the third-week, Luke looked up at me during the middle of a song and whispered a soft sentence. 

I stopped playing to ask him what he said and told me... “Let’s go home.” Those words struck me so hard in the chest that it felt like a million years of sorrow and agony came pouring out I spent the next half an hour crying in his arms. 

Home. I could go home now. I’d almost forgotten.

When we approach Dane and Holly and everyone else that it was time to go home. A sense of relief flooded into everyone, we finally realized what that meant. It meant that Luke was ready to go home. It meant that he was stable enough to not mope all day. It meant that he was happy again, and even though he wasn’t writing and he wasn’t sketching. He kept by my side because he knew that he wasn’t going to get better for a very long time and that we shouldn’t wait for him anymore. 

I knew he had to come to terms with it so I let him be as we packed up Dane and Holly’s stuff. We moved it to the ship and I created another wing to the ship where they could stay. It was next to mine, just a small sitting room for Holly and a bedroom for her as well. 

We were unpacking some of the boxes and I caught Luke trying to put away small objects only for him to wince and sigh when he tried to put something up with two hands, and I walk over and offer him a hand, however, after the fifth time I noticed him walk over to his prosthetic, pick it up, put it on and continue unboxing items. After that, I didn’t catch him struggling.   
_____________________

I was standing in the foyer of the ship when he came up to me and stood in front of me. Then he wrapped both arms around me and just pulled me in close like a small child begging for attention. I wrapped my arms around him as well and hugged him tighter. When he looked up at me and smiled I smiled so hard and I picked him up, spinning him around the ship.

“Someone’s feeling better,” I chuckled, setting him down.

“Yeah, I’m finally getting used to this. Sorry for being such a downer lately it’s just-”

I stopped him there and putting my finger to his lips.   
“There is no need to apologize. What happened to you... it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have taken you with me. You got hurt and that’s on me.”

“Lance, you and I both know that I would’ve come with you whether you wanted me to or not. The fact that I got injured is my business and my business alone. I just didn’t intend to get injured this badly, however, I protected you, we got out of there, and it’s fine now. I can live with this. Neither of us died and that’s what matters.”

“I should’ve been able to protect you,” I mumble in protest.

“That’s my job,” another voice adds in. 

We turn to see Dane leaning against the doorway, his arms folded and a soft smile on his lips.   
“It’s my job to protect you guys, not yours. I should’ve been there with you and he wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

“Dane, you could’ve never been with us. We did this because we wanted to find you.”

“I know. I won’t let it happen again. It’s my job to protect you and I’ll do that job no matter how far I have to go, and no matter how long it takes.” He walks up to us and then stops like he doesn’t know what to do.

There’s a soft pause before Luke reaches out his arm and pulls him into the hug.  
“Don’t worry, we’ll protect each other.”

Dane chuckles, picking us both up.  
“And how are you going to do that squirt?” he laughs and we laugh with him as Luke reaches up and ruffles his hair.

“Simple, by giving you so many kisses you don’t get into trouble!”

“I um…” Dane looks down and blushing furiously.

“Fuck, did I say that out loud?”

“It’s… it’s okay if you wanna give me kisses…” Dane whispers.

I watch as Luke rises up on his tip-toes and presses a soft kiss to Dane’s cheek, causing him to blush worse.

I stand there before I crack up in laughter.   
“Sorry, you guys are just so freaking adorable I can’t help it. I’m gonna go find Crimson, enjoy your cuddle puddle of whatever.”   
I walk out of the room to the door Dane entered, leaving the two of them alone. It doesn’t take me long to find Crimson, she’s standing by the sink in the kitchen talking to Torix and Ycee about God knows what.

I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist resting my head between in the crook of her neck.

“Oh! Hey Lance,” she chirps, rubbing her hand on my head. “Why are you over here?”

“Dane and Luke are being too mushy for me…” I grumble kissing her neck.

“What? Did he finally admit it?”

“Huh? Who?” I asked looking at her curiously

“You know, Dane having a huge crush on Luke.”

I stand there in silence.  
“You’re kidding… right?”

“No, I thought you knew. Oh, if you’re that oblivious, Dane and I are also doing stuff.”

“Okay, I’m not that oblivious. I knew that. Don’t think I didn’t know you were with Dane during his rut. I’m surprised that he even fit in you. You’re so small compared to him.”

“You wanna go here and now pretty boy?” she asks, pulling my collar playfully.

“Maybe, but Torix and Ycee are right here. Keep it in your pants babe,” I whisper before walking off, leaving her standing there, red-faced.

It doesn’t take long for her to run after me.


	20. Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As you can gather from the title, this chapter is just domestic. There's a few hints at sex, but no explicit details. Also, yes all movies referenced in this novel are real movies. Kudo's if you can guess which ones.

I woke up in the morning and immediately tried to get out of bed. Unfortunatley, I was trapped. Dane’s hands were clasped around my stomach and Luke was nested in front of me.

Fuck, what a way to wake up. 

I manage to wiggle my way out from between the two of them, pushing Luke back to take my place and watching as Dane curls around him. A chuckle escapes my lips as I move about the room, grabbing myself a t-shirt for the day with one of Crimson’s tattoo’s on it, a heart with stitches around the edges and the pansexual pride flag inside it. I tug on a pair of sweatpants as well and slip out of the room quietly.  
I make my way to the kitchen to find Holly and Crimson talking at the island with cups of coffee.

“Morning boo, coffee’s fresh, just made it,” Crimson says, giving me a bright smile.

I grumble something incoherent and stumble my way to the bathroom, kissing her cheek on my way. 

There are moans down the hallway, emanating from Torix and Ycee’s room. I bang on their door.   
“It’s morning fuckers, shuddup!” I grumble before closing the bathroom door behind me.

After relieving myself, I splash some water on my face and check my beard. It’s growing nicely. I pick up my razor and tidy the stubble from my upper lip and cheeks and wash my face off with the clothe hanging next to the sink.

Rubbing my eyes, I make my way back to the kitchen and pour myself some coffee.

“I’m making eggs, you want any?” Ycee asks, now standing at the stove.

“Yeah, I’ll go wake Dane and Luke, they took over the bed,” I lie, watching as Torix limps to his seat.  
“Here, you need this more,” I mumble, placing the cup down in front of him before walking off.

I mozy back to my room, opening the door to find Dane and Luke making out on the bed.

“Guess I don’t have to wake you guys up. Ycee’s making eggs, don’t be late. And clean up after you’re done, we have to sleep there tonight,” I say, turning around and closing the door.

I re-enter the kitchen.  
“They’re awake,” I state, sitting down at the island. 

Crimson places a cup of coffee in front of me.  
“I’m going to go say morning!” she chirps.

I stick out my arm to stop her.  
“Don’t. They were messing with my bed,” I grumble.

Across the table from me Holly facepalms. 

Crimson makes an ‘oh’ face and sits down again.

“Well, did you sleep well?” she asks.

“Yeah. Same as usual. What about you?”  
“Oh you know, perfect. Dane’s really warm,” she comments as Ycee sets plates of eggs in front of her and Holly. “Thanks, Ycee, you’re a dear.”

“Of course,” he replies, setting another in front of me as well as Torix.

“Thanks, Ycee.”

“Thank you, dear.”

“Thanks, bunny.”

We’re digging into breakfast, toast and eggs when Dane and Luke join us. They dish up their own plates and join us at the island.

Pleasant conversation ensues, mostly discussing our plans for the day. There was a mention of a plan for when we get to Terene but I brush it off. I don’t need a plan.

After breakfast Dane and Luke are voted to do dishes, being the last ones there. They grumble but do them anyways and the rest of us go about our day.

I grab my guitar and go to the deck to practice with Crimson. Later Luke joins us, practicing using his prosthetic. 

Dane stops by halfway through the day to give us lunch, leftovers from the pizza we had last night. At least he remembered to heat it up this time.

We take a break from practising to teach Luke a little Icceno, Dane helps too. One of the words we teach him is léἀh, meaning Love. A common pet name used in Terene.

Afterwards, Luke goes with Dane to read some of the books in my library. Crimson and I sit and work on the song we were doing together for the two of them, giving us a little alone time.

The afternoon flies by fast and soon it’s time we go back inside for dinner. 

Crimson and I volunteered to cook tonight, an old recipe that Crimson and I picked up on Asteria. It consists of three different types of meat, a sauce made from red fruit and lots of pasta, paired with a long loaf of handmade garlic bread. We cook it together and enjoy the little looks that develop on Dane and Luke’s faces as they walk into the room to talk with us.

Once it’s finished, everyone’s already in the kitchen. Holly helps us to dish up the food and bring it to the dining room where everyone gathered. 

Crimson and I high-five under the table as everyone digs in, praising how good the dish looks and how wonderful it tastes.

Dinner conversation bubbles up until Ycee and Crimson are debating over tonight’s movie choice as Dane throws in random suggestions. I turn to Holly and talk about Terene, picturing the world in my mind as she tells me fun facts about my home. I don’t notice it at first but Luke is listening intently to the conversation too until he says something related to what we’re discussing and we add him into the conversation as a more active member.

Torix and Holly split the dishes together, getting them done in record time as the rest of us head to the movie room. Crimson, Dane, Luke and I curl in the center of the nest while Ycee folds down part of the chairs into an extended nest for him and Torix and Dane makes a spot for his mom.

I head up to the projection room once they tell me what movie to play and Torix and Holly join us with snacks.

They chose a musical about a circus director from Earth. One of my favourites. 

After popping it into the player, I snuggle down in between Crimson and Dane with Luke on my lap. 

We wind up watching three movies that night, an animated one about a city of gold and a live-action biography about an old Earth singer. The evening turns into late-night and Luke ends up passing out on top of me.

I carry him back to our room, Dane and Crimson following after me. 

We change and slip into bed, anxious for the next day.  
_____________________

I can feel the wind in my hair as I pin it back up into its usual half-bun. It’s been getting longer now, it reaches down to my lower back. It’s been getting caught in everything for ages. Maybe I’ll cut it soon. Who knows.

I’m standing at the front of the ship, we’re sailing right through the middle of the southern sea, Holly’s standing next to me.

“Alright, right here’s good. Just open her up Lance,” she tells me, giving me a pat on the back for comfort.

I look over at her and nod.   
“Might wanna hold onto something,” I comment as I take my stance as close to the front of the ship as possible.

I wait until I hear her walk off and the door to the cabin click closed before starting the portal. It’s a focus of energy as it builds up in front of me. I brace myself as the ship sails into its green swirling light and my vision goes white for a moment.

When I open my eyes, I fall to my knees as tears roll down my cheeks.

I’m home.


	21. Starcatch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to another angst central arc! The final arc of the book! 
> 
> I'm just putting up a blanket warning for the next few chapters because they reference Lance's "parents" relationship.

I can feel the wind in my hair as I pin it back up into its usual half-bun. It’s been getting longer now, it reaches down to my lower back. It’s been getting caught in everything for ages. Maybe I’ll cut it soon. Who knows.

I’m wearing my usual outfit, however Holly’s tailored this shirt to cover me whenever I have my wings out so I’m not just walking around topless. Which is unfortunate, it’s not like anyone really cares, Torix is practically topless as well. I have the first few buttons undone so the shirt hangs open. 

I shake out my wings, making sure the feathers aren’t getting too ruffled in the wind, I spent all morning preening them thanks to Crimson… 

I look out across the southern sea, as Holly hums next to me. It’s been two days since we left Starcatch’s port and we’ve finally reached the part of the sea we need to be at.

“Alright, right here’s good. Just open her up Lance,” she tells me, giving me a pat on the back for comfort.

I look over at her and nod.  
“Might wanna hold onto something,” I comment as I take my stance as close to the front of the ship as possible.

I wait until I hear her walk off and the door to the cabin click closed before starting the portal. It’s a focus of energy as it builds up in front of me. I brace myself as the ship sails into its green swirling light and my vision goes white for a moment.

When I open my eyes I have to rush to grab the wheel of the ship and ease us into the dock we’ve appeared in front of. My body goes into autopilot while I’m still blinking away the blur from the portal. Somehow, I manage to dock the ship without scratching my paint job and I’m finally able to see clearly again. For a split second. 

As my eyes look around, tears fill my eyes and blur my vision. I slump to my knees as they roll down my cheeks.

I’m home.

Colourful flora stands tall around me, trees taller than some skyscrapers in the southern dimension tower above me, each tree has its own colour of leaves creating scenery that rivals some rainbows. I see colourful birds sitting amongst the leaves, nesting amongst the dark brown branches and lime green vines.

A butterfly glides past my face, landing on the railing of the ship, it’s soft yellow and orange wings standing out against the painted carbon fibre of the ship.

My eyes follow the gravel path that leads from the dock to spot the outskirts of a metropolis in the distance. Terrene’s capital; Inifie. 

Without waiting for the others, I hop down from the ship, onto the dock and start up the path, taking my time to watch the world around me. I don’t have to worry about anyone not knowing how to communicate with people here, they speak Ruliansh here and Icceno.

High up in the trees my eyes catch movement and I watch a dark-furred wild-cat slump down onto a large tree branch, it’s double tails flicking back and forth as it watches me back. 

As I reach closer to the city, it’s almost as colourful as the forest around it! Buildings with no more than three stories stand spaced apart in an inconsistent pattern stand around me, like something out of a fairytale book. I watch around me as people start coming out of the houses and shops, starting their morning. So many people of so many different species interacting with each other.

I spot a cafe made from dark brown wood that has a natural roof with moss and a few bushes growing on top of it as well as a large pane of glass in the front wall, welcoming in the morning light to the cozy interior. Plush couches sit inside the shop, and far back I can see a large counter with a display case and chalkboard signs with prices, outside the shop there are metal chairs with glass tables for additional seating. 

Inside I can see a werewolf with blonde hair and pale skin using a broom to sweep the floor and a mermaid with purple hair and soft pink skin floating around in a bubble of water, washing down the tables. There are two small kids running around them, a siren with bright blue hair and pastel blue skin and a goblin child with dark skin and black hair chasing after her, his tail swishing back and forth in excitement.

I keep walking, trying not to stare. 

My eyes fall on a two-storied book shop at the corner of the street, it’s built of medium toned wood with windows around the exposed walls, outside a bird-folk is turning the sign to say open. Her soft red hair cut into a pixie cut that’s blowing in the gentle breeze as she tends to a planter of massive kale plants.

As I look around the street, I realize I’m standing in the middle of the road, yet there are no cars I can see or hear. The roads are also wider than any roads I’ve ever seen. Scratching my head I walk up to the woman tending to the lettuce.

“Excuse me miss?” I start, stopping next to her.

She looks up from the planter box. The moment her eyes land on me, they widen in shock.

“Y-yes?” she squeaks after she realizes she’s staring at me.

“I was wondering if you could explain something to me. You see I haven’t been here in a while and well my friend who always answers my questions has yet to catch up to me,” I ramble, rubbing the back of my neck. I don’t wanna put the poor woman out of her way.

“Of course! What’s your question?” she chirps, giving me a bright smile.

I smile back, relived.  
“Well, the streets are huge, but there’s no cars around at all… is there a reason?” I ask, gesturing towards the road that’s easily a building and a half wide.

She laughs a little.  
“Yes, it is quite odd. My mother found it odd too when they immigrated here. We don’t have cars, we use TTS,” she says.

I blink at her.  
“What’s TTS, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“It stands for ‘tortoise transportation system’. I hear it’s similar to the bullet train system in the Central Dimension. Except, of course, we ride giant tortoises. They just take us wherever we desire, you just have to grab the right one. It’s what this planter box is for.” She gestures towards the massive kale plants growing in the planter box she’s been tending too.

“Oh. How do they stay on the right routes?”

“Simple! They have drivers.”

“That makes a bit more sense… thank you for your help,” I say, turning to walk away.

“Of course,” I hear her say as I’m walking off.

I’m only a couple of steps away when she speaks again.

“Might I ask, where have you been all these years?” 

Her words make me freeze and I turn back to her.

“You… remember me?” I say in an almost whisper, shock turning over me.

“You always came to shop when we were younger, you and Dane. We’d play together while your mother and her friend looked at books. One day, you just stopped coming…”

“I’m sorry. Eryox didn’t want me around anymore,” I apologize, growling out the last part.

She’s about to say something more when someone down the street calls my name. 

I turn to see who’s calling for me and I’m knocked to my feet by a hurtling blur of happiness. When I open my eyes to see who it is, it’s Luke! He looks up at me and kisses me quickly before getting up.

“You thought you could get rid of me that easily?” he teases offering me a hand up.

I take it and stand to my feet, pulling him close to me, kissing his forehead.  
“No, never. You’re too cute to want to get rid of.”

“Damn right…” he mumbles, leaning his head against my arm.

“Sorry, this is one of my partners, Luke. Luke, this is my old childhood friend…” I apologize, smiling at the woman who’s now watching the two of us with a bright smile.

“Kally,” she says, holding her hand out to Luke. He shakes it. “It’s nice to meet you,” she turns to me, “And it’s great to see you happy!”

I smile and rub the back of my neck.  
“It feels pretty great too. You got anyone special?”

“No, and I never want anyone,” she chirps, her smile never faltering, “Is Dane still with you?”

I’m about to respond when a heavyweight rests on my head.

“Damn straight I am,” Dane responds, folding his arms over top my head and resting his chin on them.

Even with my heels on he’s still a mountain of a man to me.

“It’s been a while, Kally. How you’ve been?”

“I’ve been doing alright, my brother just had a brood ceremony the other day, so my parents have left me alone about being broodless to focus on him,” Kally says, tidying up the planter box again.

“That’s good,” Dane replies, giving her a hand and giving my neck a break.

I feel a hand wrap around my bicep and turn to see Crimson standing next to me.

“Come on Lance, let’s go!” they say, kissing my cheek.

“But what about Dane?” I mumble, turning towards him to see him chatting with Kally like old friends.

“Leave him, he knows how to get around here, let’s go see the palace! Holly says she’ll meet us there!” Luke chimes in, nudging me as well.

I sigh. “Okay, okay. Dane, we’re gonna go to the palace. Meet us there when you’re done, okay?”

Dane nods towards us. “Yep. Have fun guys!”

“Byeeee!” Crimson calls as she and Luke drag me off down the street.

With one hand around Luke’s waist and the other laced in Crimson’s hand, we traverse Inifie, taking moments to pause and check out the inside of colourfully painted buildings. 

Crimson spots a large mural painted on the side of a building that depicts a demon with a sword through his heart, the only signature being an Anarchy symbol in the bottom corner of the painting. We stand and admire it for a moment before moving on with our route.

It doesn’t take long until we’re roughly halfway there and I’m watching as people are walking past us, so many interracial couples that it rivals every other dimension I’ve been in, so many different families making their own path in life. I watch as a family walks past us, three parts, a human, an elf and a cat-folk chatting idly together while watching a small half-elf child skipping along down the pavement in front of them. 

I’ve pulled away from my people watching when Luke tugs on my sleeve.

“Lance, what’s that?” he whispers to me, pointing towards something on the opposite side of the street.

I turn my head to see a tortoise standing as tall as the first story on the building next to it! Atop its shell is what looks to be a sitting area where some citizens have taken up residence, watching bellow them or just casually chatting as the tortoise slowly makes it’s way down the street.

“Oh! That’s what I was talking to Kally about! They’re apparently used like people use buses on Earth,” I explain, gesturing to the people on top of the tortoise.

“That’s actually really smart,” Crimson comments next to me, “It’s very environmentally friendly compared to what most people are using nowadays.”

“They’re not wrong,” Luke agrees before his attention is snagged by yet another thing. “Crimson! Look! Art supplies!” He cheers, running towards the art shop in front of us.  
Right before he enters the shop, he comes back sadly.  
“Sorry… I forgot I can’t draw anymore…” he mumbles, holding his prosthetic.

“Luke, can you wiggle your fingers for me?” I ask, a tiny plan in my mind.

He gives me a funny look before lifting his right arm and wiggling his fingers.

“No, the other one.”

With the same look, he lifts his left arm and wiggles the prosthetic’s fingers. 

I grab his shoulders gently so he’ll face me.  
“Luke. If you can wiggle your fingers and use your hand like it’s still flesh, you can draw. You just need to refresh the muscle memory.”

I watch as his face morphs into the brightest smile I’ve ever seen and I barely have time to register it before he’s kissing me, his arms tangled around my torso, running his fingers in my feathers. I lean down into the kiss and hold him tightly until he pulls back.

“Thank you…” he whispers.

“Sometimes, you just need someone to show you. Now go on, I’m going to go look around for a moment. When you’re done just have Crimson ping me.” I gesture to the small blue light in my wrist. I finally had the memory to take a charger with me and now I can access my old phone. 

He nods before walking off with Crimson.

God, I love them. All of them. Who’d ever think I’d wind up with my best friends… 

I watch them walk away before heading a little up the street to the tiny jewelry store I saw earlier. I duck through the crowd towards the store. The little bell rings as I step inside. The walls are light brown and the floor is a darker brown, contrasting perfectly. All around the store are display cases with brilliant jewelry inside them. Everything from intricate necklaces to simple rings.

Behind the counter is a stout, dwarven woman. Her long brown hair held back from her face by multiple braids with gold details braided into the hair. Across her face is sparkles of gold soft smile-lines. I’d say she’s probably mid 30’s. 

I approach the counter gingerly. Not sure how to go about this. I don’t want the last time to repeat itself.

“Hi love, what brings you here?” she asks, putting down the item she was tinkering on.

“Hi yes. I’d like to buy some rings? Three to be exact,” I state nervously, fidgeting with my shirt sleeve.

“Don’t worry deary, you aren’t the first to come in here for engagement rings,” she chuckles, moving to a different display case behind the counter.

“I…! How’d you know?” I ask in shock, following her too the case.

“I saw you outside with your two little ones. I suppose you’re buying rings for the three of you?” 

“Oh no, I already have a ring for one of them…”

“Well, if you’re buying rings, you need to match them. Let’s see this ring,” she demands, putting her hands on her hips.

I fidget through my bag until the ring box is in my hand. I show her the ring inside the case and she hums and haws looking it over.

As she’s doing this, I hear a little tinkle and turn to see Dane walk into the shop.

“Lance! There you are!” he exclaims happily, walking over to me, “Sorry, it took a while to escape Kally.”

I watch as the dwarven woman tucks away the ring from his view. Thank god.  
“H-hey Dane, where are the others?” I ask awkwardly.

He comes to a stop next to me, resting his arm around my shoulders, brushing against my wings.  
“Torix and Ycee are with my mom, and Crimson and Luke went with you.”

“Oh, they went to an art shop,” I fill him in.

“So… we’re you going to ask my opinion before or after buying the rings?” he asks, looking down at me.

I stare up at him in shock.  
“How’d you-?”

“I’ve caught you looking at the ring late at night, as well as scrolling through your phone when you think no one’s looking.”

“Oh… do you think it’s… too sudden?”

He shakes his head. “No, it’s perfect. You’ve known us for longer than most know their partners. You deserve this Lance.” He kisses my forehead.

“Lance, as in Lance Emeryxon?!” the dwarf stutters, looking at us with wide eyes.

“Yeah…? Is that a problem?” I reply, moving closer to Dane.

“Not at all! It’s glad to see you back, your majesty. Your mothers would always come in here and look at rings and other pieces of jewelry. In fact, if I remember correctly, they left a large sum of money in your names with me in case you ever came to buy rings from me. Consider anything you purchase today free of cost,” she states, putting the ring box back down on the counter.

“Oh, thank you,” Dane says as she pulls out a few trays from inside the display case.

“Of course. Now, these trays have rings that match the one you already have. Choose wisely, and I’m here if you have any questions.”

“Thank you,” I whisper as we start to look over the trays for rings that’ll fit for what we need.  
__

It takes us almost forever to find the ones 

As we’re leaving the shop Dane stops in his tracks and calls out to someone across the road.

“LEXIE!” he shouts and a pink-haired elf turns towards us and smiles.

Her long, pop-pink hair rests around her shoulders, her thinly pointed ears poking out from behind her locks. Her angular face is rounded, giving her a unique shape. She’s dressed in a white sundress with a soft pink scarf around her neck. A long thin tail pokes out a specially made hole on her dress and moves idly behind her.

When she sees us she crosses the street quickly towards us.

“Is that really you?” she asks as she comes closer, staring at Dane and I with a slightly open mouth.

I have a vague memory of her from when I was a child. She used to teach us science and would always sneak extra cookies and nianaplo, a terenian pastry dish, from the kitchen.

“It’s really us,” Dane nods and the woman embraces him tightly.

“I never thought I’d see you two again,” she whispers, pulling back from Dane with tears in her eyes to hug me.

“I didn’t either,” Dane replies as she lets go of me.

“You two arrived just in time. Eyrox has taken a turn for the worst. He wants to start taking over other dimensions and wants to start a military. He won’t listen to any of us, no reason at all,” Lexie informs us.

I feel my stomach sink. He’s here.  
“Courtier Lexie, we won’t let that happen. Thank you for your service to the crown so far, do you give us your support to take Eyrox out of monarchy?” I ask. I’ve picked up a few things about diplomacy along the road when dating Xzavis.

Lexie nods. “You have my support and the other two courtiers as well. Derek and Rohland will be ecstatic to hear that we’ll finally be rid of him.”

“Good. Cause we’re going to go do that right now,” Dane states.

“Please tell me you have a plan…” Lexie groans, rubbing her temples.

“Nope! Last time we made a plan someone lost an arm,” I state, and almost on cue Luke and Crimson rejoin us.

“I can confirm that statement,” Luke says, waving with his left arm.

“Oh my… well, I wish you four the greatest luck. Would you like my guidance to get to the palace from here?” Lexie asks as Crimson jumps onto Danes back, whining about being tired.

I nod.  
“Yes please.”

She smiles and starts walking down the street. We follow her as she goes, Crimson and Luke finding their way in between Dane and I as we walk down the street towards the palace. I wrap my arm around Crimson’s waist, pulling her close as the palace looms closer and closer, the fear and dread building in my stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Courtier is canonically a trans woman btw


	22. Eyrox

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to violence central! Shit gets FUCKED UP.
> 
> Warning for child abuse!! As well as homophobia, manipulation

The palace was breathtaking. Towering above us with three separate towers that connected to each other by a base three stories tall. To the left was a massive greenhouse wing with large topiary on the inside, obscuring our vision from seeing anything else inside. The palace was built of marble and stone, with moss and vines and plant life growing up the towers and walls. The towers came to a point at the top, swooping down like someone had taken a large bite out of them. The middle tower was pointed and flared out on the sides like a large spearhead. The middle of the tower had a large tinted round window and where it connected with the main building was a large balcony, probably meant for addressing the public. 

In the courtyard outside was a large statue of three people, two older adults, one with a large beard and braided hair and the other with short hair sculpted high on their head. Between them stood a short child, probably in their teens, with a large scarf wrapped around their head. As we walked behind them, we could see the two older statues holding each other's hands behind the teen.

“Ah yes, those are your grandparents and your mother. Such marvellous rulers,” Lexie mused as we walked by, and I glanced back at the statues, staring at them and trying to memorize every little detail as we continued on.

Beside me, Crimson squeezed my hand assuringly, a smile on her face when I looked over.

As we approached the doors, the two guards' eyes went wide and knelt to us.

“Your majesty,” their voices whispered as the lowered their weapons.

“Oh please, there’s no need for that,” I say, waving them up. Watching as they stand up and look at each other, confused.

Lexi nodded towards them and then the doors, and the two guards held open the large, mahogany wood doors open for us as we walked inside the palace.

The interior was even more glorious than the exterior and a small gasp came from Luke’s direction.

“Welcome home!” Lexie cheered, gesturing to the palace around us.

We were standing in the large for, a massive set of stairs that had a landing in the middle and snakes off to the sides stood before us. There were a few couches littering the palace, as well as doors and painting. Each wall had faded art underneath like someone tried to paint over it but did a horrible job.

“I’m guessing you’d like to see Eyrox?” Lexie asks, looking over at me.

I nod in response and she starts walking down the right hallway. Expecting us to follow. 

“What’s with the walls?” Luke asks.

“Well, you see, when Eyrox came into power there used to be huge murals that praised peace and serenity, however, he hated them and had them painted over. The painters couldn’t bear to cover them completely so we’re left with these.”

“Oh…” Luke whispered, moving closer to Dane, holding his hand tightly.

“In any case, here’s the hall. Eyrox usually spends his days here. Good luck you four!” Lexie chirped, turning on her heels and walking away.

“Lexie wait!” I call to her.

She stops and turns back towards us. Dane and I rush forwards and hug her tightly.

“Thank you…” I whisper before letting her go.

“Of course.” She nods and turns to go again. 

We let her go, taking a deep breath before pushing open the doors to the hall.

The hall is relatively empty, a large dining table, horizontal to our position, sits in the middle of the room. There are pillars spaced out on the outskirts of the room. On the opposite side of the room I spy another set of doors. But apart from the figures standing in the room, it’s a sandy yellow colour. 

Maybe he isn’t so bad. Maybe he’ll listen to reason?

The thought fades from my mind as we step into Holly, Torix and Ycee arguing with a man I can only presume as my father.

He stands a little taller than I do, probably somewhere around six foot four. A slightly receding mop of light blond hair sits on his head, slicked back to define his widow's peak. He’s dressed in a white dress shirt and black dress pants. The only odd thing about his appearance is a snake belt around his hips. The only detail that links him to be my father is his striking, blood-red eyes. They land on me as we walk into the room and I hold my breath, holding Crimson slightly behind me.

“LANCE!” He cheers with excitement and love in his voice, opening his arms and walking towards me with a broad smile. Completely ignoring Holly.

I freeze in place as he hugs me tightly. It feels like a hug from Xzavis. Cold and manipulative.

“Eyrox,” I spit as he lets go of me.

“Oh son, how I’ve missed you so,” he says, I can see the snake tongue between his lips as he lies through his teeth. It's a wonder that shirts not black yet.

“I’ve missed you too dad,” I lie as well, trying to keep a fake smile plastered to my face.

“And who’s this? Is this your girlfriend?” Eyrox continues on, moving over to Crimson standing next to me. 

My eyes land on his gaze locked on their breasts. I stick my arm between him and them.

The fucking nerve.

“Actually dad-” I start.

“I’m one of his lovers, bastard,” Crimson growls at him, standing their ground. 

I look back at them and see they’ve shifted their appearance to flatten their chest and give themselves angular hips. A more masculine appearance.

“Well isn’t she lovely. You should keep your bitch in line son. Did I teach you nothing?” Eyrox dismisses, shifting his gaze back to me.  
“Why? Does someone with a spine scare you?” Crimson retorts, I can feel the anger pulsing off of them.

“No. I know my son wouldn’t fuck someone so masculine. Keep your appearance to something he’ll actually enjoy,” Eyrox states, waltzing back over to the table where Holly, Torix and Ycee used to stand. 

By now, they’ve moved over to us, and I can see Holly trying to get Luke to leave the room. She’s whispering something to him that I can’t quite hear.

“Actually dad, I’m fine with any appearance they would like to take on,” I interject, stopping Crimson from getting into a deeper hole.

Eyrox snorts, turning back to me.  
“What did you say?”

“I like men too. And while we’re on the subject, nonbinary folk as well,” I say, standing my ground in front of the door.

“No man can love another man. You’re just confused. I suppose I should blame that on whatever you did in your teen years.”

“Actually, a man can love another man. I currently love two.”

From the corner of my ear I hear a faint, “Luke, we have to go now.”

“Really? Are you now? Maybe I should knock some sense into you.”

“You can’t hurt me.”

“Why not? I’m your father.”

“My own father wouldn’t leave me alone to die when I was NINE! I WAS FUCKING NINE EYROX!!” The words leave my lips before I can even stop them.

“So? You were old enough to fend for yourself. You were only being a burden on me,” Eyrox dismisses. 

“I WAS A CHILD!! YOU LEFT ME TO DIE! I COULD’VE DIED!!” I shout, walking closer to him as the door clicks behind us, leaving Ycee, Crimson and Dane with me.

“I’m sorry you had it so rough. But you seem to be alive now.” Eyrox waves it off, turning back to the table.

“DOES IT CROSS YOUR MIND TO BE SLIGHTLY SORRY?!” I grab his shoulder, turning him back to me.

“Why would I need to be?”

“YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HIS DAD!!” Dane erupts behind me.

“I was. I taught him everything he needed to know and now look at him. He can’t even measure up to his own father. What a shame.” He brushes off my hand, turning back to the papers spread out on the table in front of him.

“Well I’m sorry I’m not enough for you.” 

“If that’s all you wanted to tell me, you can leave now,” Eyrox says, turning back towards us.

I don’t know what possessed me, maybe it was all the anger, all the rage building up inside me from everything that had happened. I didn’t even realize I’d punched him until my fist collided with his face and a sickening snap echoed throughout the room.

“Well, that was certainly uncalled for,” Eyrox grumbled, wiping the blood from his upper lip. “Looks like I didn’t teach you anything. Making me look like a bad teacher.”

He wound his fist back, pushing it forwards towards my stomach. With little effort, I catch it mid-swing.

“You didn’t teach me anything. I learnt from the street fights I’d get into as a child, from the times that I’d get beaten up in dark alleys for even existing.” I let his fist go and he takes it back.

“You wouldn’t even know anything unless I’d taught it to you. Get off your high horse,” Eyrox spits in my face, walking off to the other side of the table.

“Do you even think you might be wrong?!” Crimson asks, walking up to the table as well, Ycee following suite.

“I’m not wrong,” Eyrox replies, straightening the paper on the table now in front of him.

“YOU ARE THOUGH! HAVEN’T YOU BEEN LISTENING?!” Dane roared, moving closer to Eyrox.

“Why do you even care. You’re not a part of this,” Eyrox dismisses, picking up a pencil off of the table.

“Yes I am. That’s my boyfriend you’re speaking too,” he growls.

The moment the words leave his mouth, Eyrox is moving across the table with a slightly glowing fist.

“I ought to teach you a lesson here and now,” he’s saying as he moves. 

But it’s not Dane he’s aiming for. I realize almost too late that he’s coming for me. I leap back just in time for his fist to land where I used to stand.

“You can’t teach me anything.”

“Fucking watch me.” 

And he lunges at me again.  
_____________________

As Holly, Torix and Luke walked the halls of the palace to avoid Eyrox coming after them they got progressively farther down until they found themselves in the dungeons. 

“I’m telling you, Luke, these haven’t been used for years. Najala was strictly against it,” Holly assured him as they explored. 

“That’s… how’d she keep that rule with Eyrox?” Luke asked curiously, blurting it out before he could catch himself.

“Ah… well… he liked to kill his prisoners instead of using them as bargaining chips…”

“Oh…” Luke mumbled.

“That’s sick,” Torix spat, scrunching his nose up.

An uncomfortable silence drifted over the three of them as they passed by repeating loops of bricks stacked together between doors made of metal.

“See, Right there we used to come down here and make-out for a while. The only place in the whole palace we could get away from the kids. Well, except of course when Eyrox took Lance down here for magic lessons.”

“wait, Eyrox used to teach Lance how to use his magic?!” Luke asked in shock, staring at Holly with wide eyes.

“Of course, how do you think he knew how to shapeshift so soon? Or how he’s really accurate with his portals and pocket dimensions?”

“I just always assumed he practiced a lot…” Torix commented.

“Wait did you say he already knew how to shapeshift?!” Luke shouted in surprise.

“Well, yeah? He knew when he was little. I guess when Eyrox kicked him out he must’ve tampered with his memories more than we thought.”

Luke went quiet, staring at the floor. There was so much that Lances has lost because of his father… his home… his mother… his soulmate… he was starting to wonder where he fell in all of the things Lance held close.

“Holly…?”

“Hm?”

“Do you think… that Lance will still care about me when this is all over? Won’t he be busy running the kingdom and everything?” Luke asked timidly, holding his prosthetic closer to his side.

Holly looked over at Luke, a knowing expression on her face.  
“I thought the same thing too when Naj took over the dimension. Trust me, they’ll always have time for you. Even if it’s late nights and they’re exhausted, they’ll still curl up next to you and litter you with kisses and affection before passing out…” Holly paused and sighed as if she was remembering a distant memory… “and trust me hon, I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Even how my son does. They look at you like the night’s sky is something you built for them in your tool shed.”

Luke paused, brushing his hand over the brick of the wall.   
“You could say I feel the same way for them too… they’re the best boyfriends I’ve ever had… and Crimsons the best metamor I’ve ever had too.”

“Come on man, you’re the best boyfriend he’s had too. This is good for Lance. From what Ycee’s been telling me, he’s needed this for a long time.”

Luke smiles at him as the trio continued down the hall.  
“Thanks, Torix.”

“Anytime dude.”

As they reached further down the dungeon, Luke paused again, this time a worried look spread across his face.

“What is it?” Holly asked, stopping next to him.

“Yeah man, what do ya hear?”

Luke raised a hand to silence them.

After a few moments, he turned to them, shock and fear written across his face.

“I hear voices.”

“Luke, that’s not funny,” Torix said, a nervous laugh wavering his voice.

“I’m not kidding, they’re coming from…” Luke paused again… “THAT WAY!” He shouted suddenly before rushing down the hall in a dead sprint towards the source of the sound.

Torix and Holly had no time to think as they chased after Luke down the halls.

“Luke this is impossible, it’s been abandoned for years! Why would Eyrox keep someone down here?”

“Yeah, man! Holly said he never kept prisoners!”

But Luke didn’t listen.  
“I’ve never been wrong about this! I know I’m not Lance but I also know when I hear voices!” He shouted back at them as he kept racing down the halls.

After a few moments, he started shouting. Calling out for the mysterious voices he heard.  
“HELLO?! HELLO?! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME RESPOND PLEASE! IM TRYING TO FIND YOU!”

This went on for a minute as he raced past dimly lit cells. He was just about to give up and stop running when there was an answer back.

It sounded like it was far away, the soft whisper of a child’s voice calling out back to him.  
“H-hello?” The Voice sounded sad and raspy like it had been crying.

“HELLO!? I HEAR YOU! IM COMING, DON'T WORRY! JUST KEEP CALLING OUT!” Luke shouted back as Holly and Torix exchanged looks before rushing to catch pace with Luke.

“I- I’m over here,” the voice called back and Luke made a sharp left, nearly hitting the corner of the wall.

“DO I SOUND CLOSER?!” Luke called back.

“Y-yeah!” The Voice replied louder now.

“GOOD! CAN YOU HEAR MY FOOTSTEPS YET?” Luke asked and there was a pause in the broken conversation.

“Y-yeah mister I can hear them!” The voice replied, louder still, with a slight twinge of happiness to it.

“ALRIGHT! CAN YOU DESCRIBE AROUND YOU?”

“Look for a room without a door! It’s open but I can’t reach it!” The voice called back and Luke rounded the next corner.

Right into view, down the hallway, there was a swung open metal door, half obscuring the hallway.

“I SEE IT! I SEE IT! HOLD ON IM ALMOST THERE!” Luke called frantically, rushing faster down the hallway as Holly and Torix picked up the pace with him as well.

The voice didn’t respond verbally, a choked sob just ripped through the dungeon hallway. Luke felt his heart twist in his chest.

As he rushed closer to the door, he reached for the sweater tied around his waist. It was an instinct, barely a thought to do so, but action nonetheless.

When he reached the door, the moment he looked inside he froze, shell-shocked.

In front of him, tied to a pole with large magic restraining handcuffs and metal clips on their wings, tied to a large pole in the middle of the room, was a bloodied and bruised child. Their left arm had a bone sticking out through the forearm and their leg was mangled on the floor. Around them was a pool of dried blood and their pants were soiled with blood and urine. 

Luke heard a gasp from his left when Holly stood next to him in the doorway and wrenching from Torix as he dries heaved.

Shaking the nerves off, Luke stepped towards the child. He knelt down in front of them and reached out with a handkerchief, cleaning off the tears, blood and snot from their face.

“My name’s Luke. I’m here to help you. The other two are Holly and Torix. What’s your name?” Luke asked softly, reaching forwards and attempting to break the clips on their wings.

“I-I’m Rue,” they replied, watching as Holly walked up to them and examined their broken arm. 

“That’s a lovely name. Are you down here alone Rue?” Luke asked as the picked lock of the clip clicked open and it fell to the ground.

“No… I hope not… Liams down here with me,” Rue tells him and Luke’s heart stops in his chest.

“W-who’s Liam?” He asked quietly.

“They’re my twin. They should be nearby… if he hasn’t killed them yet…” Rue looked down at the floor, sniffling.

“I’m going to go look for them, okay?” Luke tells Rue, hugging them gently and wiping away the tears in their eyes.   
“Torix can you finish the cuffs?”

Torix nods, moving behind Rue to undo the magic blocking cuffs as Luke steps out of the door.

Once he’s out of the cell, Luke starts calling for Liam as he walks down the hall slowly, checking every cell.

It doesn’t take long. In fact, the amount of time it takes to find them is sickening. They were in the cell right next to Rues. That monster kept them that close yet Rue had no idea if their sibling was alright.

Luke opened the door to find a sight worse than the last. Nausea built in his stomach as he surveyed what he saw in front of him.

Slumped against a similar pole as the one Rue had been tied too, was what Luke hoped was Liam. Both their legs appeared to be broken, there were bruises all over their ribs and small scrapes littering their chest. Across their neck were several large scars, God only knows why, and down their wrists, Luke could see old and new scars, cut with the purpose to kill, however as he looked more closely, he saw a fresh one with stitches in it. Their wings were moulted and one looked broken and mangled. Their eyes were closed and there was blood dripping down their face. Their body was so broken, Luke could feel anger boil in his chest. Who could do this to a child?!

“Hey, I’m Luke. Rue told me that you were here. I’m here to help you. Is your name Liam?” Luke started, sitting down next to the child and starting to work on the handcuffs. They didn’t have wing clips at least.

Luke held back a sob as a soft “yes” escaped Liam’s lips.

“Okay good, you’re awake. Can you tell me if there’s anything else broken that I can’t see?”

“I don’t think so…?”

“Okay, thank you.”

The handcuffs clicked and fell to the flood, Liam’s arms dropping to the ground. Luke caught them and eased them down to Liam’s chest.

Luke noticed now that the child was completely naked. The scars and bruises carrying across their whole body. He wanted to throw up as Liam shakes next to him.

“I’m going to wrap you in my sweater, okay?” Luke explained, reaching for his soft designer sweater.

“Okay,” Liam whispered back.

As Luke wrapped his sweater around Liam, they leaned towards him, towards his warmth. Without a second thought, Luke scooped him carefully up in his arms. He was mindful of the broken limbs, especially their wing, as he did this, and the fresh stitches on their arm.

“Your sibling referred to you as they, do you go by that?” Luke asked, trying to make polite conversation as he stood up and Liam wrapped tightly around him.

“Yeah… so do they. We used it all our lives,” Liam whispered weakly to Luke.

“Alright. I wish I knew as you. I used to be called she, but it made me uncomfortable so now I’m called he,” Luke explained, holding Liam carefully in his arms as he left the cell.

“That’s pretty cool.” Liam snuggled closer to his chest.

As Luke stepped out of the cell, Torix was holding Rue as Holly closed the door. Holly’s sweater was wrapped around Rue as well. 

“Look, there’s Rue,” Luke whispered to Liam as he walked up next to Torix.

“Rue!” Liam weakly cheered, looking for them.

“Liam! You’re alive!” Rue replied, tears in their eyes.

“Of course, I told you I’d always be around to protect you. Can’t do that if I’m dead,” Liam stated matter-o-factly, very slowly like words were hard to form for him.

“Hey, I know you two are very happy to see each other but we need you to stay awake for us, so how about you let us get you to safety and then you talk?” Holly suggested, stepping in front of them all.

“Okay,” the twins whispered weakly to her and she smiled.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Holly led them down the dungeon to a secret passage and took them through a spider-infested hallway that leads out to the gardens. Slowly they stepped into the light, making sure to shield Liam and Rue from getting their eyes burnt from quick exposure.

“We’re gonna go to the hospital wing of the palace, the doctors there are the same ones who were hired by Najalas parents. Eyrox didn’t make much of a staff change it appears.”

Luke and Torix nodded and she started towards the palace again.

As they passed by the main hall, Luke heard fighting and stuck his head into the hall.

“Oh come on Lance, I’m not all that bad, I at least had the heart to fix your broken eyes when you were born. A truly evil person wouldn’t have done that,” he caught Eyrox telling Lance.

Luke glanced at his partner and saw he was almost believing him.  
“LANCE!” Luke called from the side of the hall, rushing towards him, a small child held in his arms.

All heads turned to look at Luke. The moment Eyrox’s eyes land on the child in Luke’s arms and he realizes how distracted everyone else was, he takes aim.

The fire builds up at his fingertips, forming into three tight balls before he pushes it forwards, sailing straight towards Luke. 

A cracked cackle escaped his lips as the balls of fire shot towards Luke quickly.

Luke’s eyes went wide as he saw the balls soaring towards him, he had no time to dodge the quick-paced attack. He curled in on himself, attempting to protect Liam in his arms.

He shut his eyes tightly.

I’ve imagined death that this can’t be real. I took a leap of faith to come with Lance, to make a difference in his life instead of spending mine solely in that bookshop. I don’t regret it, I’ve met so many different people who’ll remember me, so many people who’ll remember. 

Lance… you let me make a difference. You taught me how to love myself again. 

Please don’t let this be real.

“I love you,” leaves his lips as the balls of flames glow against his skin.

“LUKE!” a pained cry echoed throughout the hall.

Crimson’s eyes shot wide as they ran towards Luke as fast as their legs could take them. They watched as the fire grazed his skin, jumping on their toes and screwing their eyes shut. Their body hits Luke with force, knocking them both to the ground.

Then a searing hot pain shot through their leg and up their body. 

Am I alive? Is this death?

“MY EYE!!! I CAN’T FEEL MY EYE!! WHY CAN’T I SEE OUT OF MY EYE?!?!” Luke cried out underneath them.

Crimson opened their eyes to see Luke’s hands rushing up to his face, clawing at the large burn seared across the left side of his face and down his neck. The reached out as Ycee moved the child away and whisked them out of the hall. Thankfully unscathed.

They tried to move closer to Luke to give him a hug and comfort him that it’ll be okay, but as they tried to move the burning pain in their leg tripled and their hands whipped down to clutch their leg only to be met with empty space.

They turned their whole body to see their left leg almost completely burned off! 

“No, no, no, no… what happened to my leg…?” they whispered as a low growl echoed throughout the hall.

“You. You did this,” it rumbled, and everyone’s head whipped towards Lance, standing in front of Luke and Crimson, facing Eyrox.

But something didn’t seem right about him… 

He had a certain presence to him that no one had seen before.

Dane looked over towards Crimson and Luke with uncertainty in his eyes before he barreled over to them.

“LUKE GET UP! WE HAVE TO GO! NOW!” he shouted, running towards them and hefting Crimson up in his arms.

Luke just stood up, too shell-shocked to continue crying and grabbed onto Dane’s arm so he didn’t run into a wall and booked it out of there with Dane. 

Once they were at the exit, he turned back to see a large, black-haired figure facing Eyrox and gulped, turning away.


	23. Demetrius

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Same warnings as the previous chapters! Also... death, disabilities, blindness...

The moment I saw Crimson’s seared leg and Luke’s scalded face, my vision swam with black. A small voice hissing in my mind.

Let me… help you.

Blind by rage, I close my eyes, letting the darkness wash over me.

The next words out of my mouth didn’t feel like my own.  
“You. You did this.”

Eyrox looked at me with horror in his eyes.

“Lance… come on, let’s talk about this.”

“No,” the voice growled back in response as I stalked towards him, my hand going towards the gun holstered at my side. The soft feathers of my wings were gone, replaced with something scaly and rough as my arm brushed against them. Behind me, I could feel a tail swishing back and forth, flicking slightly.

Eyrox let out a nervous chuckle, backing up against the table.  
“Now, son, don’t make me use my magic again.”

“Don’t call me son, you’re no father of mine,” the voice hissed, pressing Eyrox to the table with a scaled hand around his neck.

“I’m sorry, you forced my hand,” Eyrox sighed and the world swam around Lance and the voice.

Suddenly they found themselves standing in the middle of a black plain with Eyrox standing far from them.

They tried running at him, but the distance kept the same.

“You know, your mother was the most beautiful woman in all the land, when I saw her, I knew she had to be mine,” Eyrox said, a whimsical hint to his voice.

“I don’t want to hear it.”  
“Perhaps you need a little convincing?” Eyrox mused, waving his hand.

Next to me, a beautiful young woman appeared. Her head was wrapped with a purple scarf, tucking away her hair. Her sharp jaw framed two round, perfect eyes, her face spotted with freckles. She was dressed in a loose flowing long-sleeved dress of pale gold with roses on the skirt, a pink sash around her waist.

“Mom…” I whisper, the clawed hand reaching out to the woman next to me.

But the moment my hand touches her, she disappeared.

“See? She was beautiful. And for years, she was all mine,” Eyrox continued, “and when she had you… oh… you were so handsome, so precious…”

The woman appeared again, this time holding a small child in her arms as it reached for the little gold tassels on her scarf. 

“However, you weren’t always the perfect being you are today. You were born flawed, and I simply had to fix it. You see, your sight was missing. So I generously bestowed it upon you,” Eyrox explained as a tall, striking young man with soft blond hair appeared next to Najala. His hands hovered over the baby’s eyes and a flash of light rang through the darkness before fizzling away.

I’m at a loss for words, watching the three interaction as Eyrox continued speaking.

“You see, you can’t kill me. If you do, your sight will go with me. I control the one thing that defines you,” Eyrox hisses in his ear

“You’re wrong,” I spit, turning my attention away from the tiny family.

“Excuse me?” Eyrox blinks, looking at me with confusion flickering in his eyes.

“My sight doesn’t define me. I don’t need it to be me. Nothing you can take away will every stop me from being who I am,” I snarl, my hand going to my gun.

As a crooked laugh escapes Eyrox’s lips, I raise and point my gun at him, the silver bullet cutting quickly through the darkness and striking him right between the ribs.

His eyes go wide and he looks at me in shock for a brief moment as the darkness fades back into the hall.

“That was for my mother,” I growl, walking closer to him as he doubles down on his knees. “For all the times you raped her, for all the times you abused her, for all the times I wasn’t able to protect her from you.”

Eryox just continued to laugh like it was all just some sick joke.  
“This is for my friends you’ve maimed, for those I’ve lost, for the little child you almost killed. This is for my childhood I spent someone like you, for the years I spent homeless and malnourished because of you. This is for murdering my mother. This is for me,” I continue, pressing my boot to his chest and pining him to the table.

I cock the gun, resting the tip against his forehead.

“Any last words?” I whisper as his laughter stops and his eyes go wide.

“You don’t have to do this! I could train you! We could rule the multiverse together!” He bargains, fighting death.

“I don’t want to rule the multiverse, especially not with you. You’ve said enough. You’ve hurt enough people. You’ve done enough.” The words drop from my lips.

I can feel blunt pain to my right leg and look down to see him slam a rock into my leg. I can feel the bone bend and break as he repeats the action.

I screw my eyes shut in pain and pull the trigger to the gun.

And just like that, the smell of gunpowder fills the air and blood splatters onto my jacket as I hear him cough underneath me and feel the life leave his body as he drops to the ground.

I bend down, tears rushing violently down my cheeks till my eyes burn. I can feel the voice leaving me, my wings and tail shrinking into my body. My clawed hands turning back to my normal flesh, my hair turning back to red.

“I’m sorry mom, I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you… But he’s gone. He’s finally gone.”

I can feel the wind winding around me as I sob. It isn’t until Luke’s calling my name, begging for a response, and I can feel someones hands on my shoulders, shaking me gently that I realize. 

I try and open my eyes, I can feel them open, but no matter how many times I try… no matter how many times I blink, or rub my eyes… everything remains empty, as if a void swallowed me whole, small hints of colours dancing around in the corners but they fade when I try to focus on them.

“G-guys?” I whisper, the words barely audible when leaving my lips.

“Lance, thank god you’re back,” Dane whispers to me.

There’s a heavy weight around my torso, I can feel warm hands through my torn shirt resting on my back. This is… this is what a hug feels like, isn’t it? 

“Come on bro, that was some badass shit you did. You should be proud of yourself.” I hear Ycee say.

“I would be, but…” I swallow the lump in my throat and try to lift my head up, straining to see anything. I don’t want to worry them. But nothing comes through. 

“Lance, are you okay?” Torix’s voice cuts through the quiet world and I can feel her hand cup my jaw. 

“I can’t see you…” I shakingly admit, the words painfull on my tongue.

Immediately I feel the three of them let go of me. The emptiness of the void fills me again and I reach out for someone’s hand. Almost instantly, both my hands have five hands on me, and there’s two on my back, and two holding my own, another stroking my hair, comforting me.

“Lance, are you sure?” Torix’s voice asks me in the darkness.

I blink again and hold back the shakiness of my voice. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

I can hear the sharp intake of someone’s breath and it’s silence, painful silence, until Dane speaks.

“Okay, well, maybe it’s temporary, but for now, let’s get Lance inside the medical wing,” he says them, I can feel his hand on one side, and Ycee’s hand on the other, helping me to stand up with them.

I take the first step forward and nearly crumple in pain, crying out.

“Lance!” 

I can feel everyone turns to me to make sure I’m okay.

“I’m fine, I’m fine. My leg’s just busted,” I squeak, trying to calm them down. After those words leave my mouth, there’s a hand on my back and between my legs as someone scoops me up in their arms, and feel the soft, hot breathe against my skin.

“Don’t worry love, I’ve got you,” Dane tells me. I can’t see it, but I know he’s smiling grimly.

Instead of verbally responding, I lean against his chest and relax as I’m carried through the palace.

I can tell we enter what I presume is the medical wing because I hear Holly and Dane barking orders to everyone about what to do.

I’m carried through wherever it is though, and into another room, the creek of doors telling me that much.

Gently, Dane lays me down on a plush bed. I can’t even tell if it’s mine or not… I can feel them walking around me, hear them whispering to each other about ‘fixing me’, but no one asks me anything or tells me what’s going on.

I can’t see what’s going on, I can’t tell who’s nearby, who I can pull into a hug, who I can ask for water from, who I can get something for the pain in my leg from… 

They set my leg and place a wrap around my eyes, not once asking me how I am.

When they’re done, I pull my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around myself tightly. Large wings sprout from my back again, wrapping around my body, protecting me. 

I feel a warm hand on my back.

“Lance?” Luke whispers

“Luke!” I exclaim, trying to open my arms.

I feel him squirm his way into my arms, hugging me tightly back.

“You are not alone,” he whispers after a moment.

I pause, opening my mouth to say something but all that comes out is, “what?”

“You are not alone in this. If you need us for anything, please ask,” he clarifies, hugging me tighter.

“Thank you,” I whisper softly, nuzzling my head into the crook of his neck. I can feel soft bandages against my cheek, wrapped tightly around his neck.

“I guess it kind of worked out though…”

“How so?”

“We can be shitty eye problem buddies!”

I laugh a little, running my hand through his hair.  
“What do you mean?”

“When Eyrox burned my face, it took my left eye with it. I can’t see a thing out of that eye now…”

“Boy we’re gonna be annoying to Crimson and Dane. Watch us run into all sorts of things the first few days,” I chuckle in response.

“... you’re not upset?”

“Luke, I’m just happy you’re alive.”

“I’m happy you’re alive too,” he whispers back, kissing my neck.

“Thank you. For coming with me all those months ago. I know it hasn’t been smooth sailing all the time, but I wouldn’t have made it this far without your help. You mean more to me than finding Terene ever did.” My voice cracks and breaks as I clutch him tightly.

“Lance… I’ve learnt more than I’d ever learn if I hadn’t left. I know how to love myself now, and I know how to love you too. We’ve faced so many things together, but now, we can finally rest. We can finally settle down and live again. I know it’s not what you’re used too, but we’ve been talking and we want to stay here. I want to stay here,” Luke responds, kissing my cheek.

“I want to stay here too. As long as you want that too.”

“I do.”

I can feel him sit up and hear the little clicks as he undid his arm, placing it nearby before shifting back into my arms, pulling fluffy blankets down with him. We rest there, just enjoying eachothers company. Finally able to fully relax.

After what feels like hours, the click of a door echoes throughout the room.

“Are you two in here?” Dane’s voice whispers to us.

“Yeah,” I reply in a raspy voice, a sigh of relief echoing in reply.

“Is it okay if… the twins we’re asking if they could… meet you? Is this a good time?” Dane asks, shuffling into the room.

I sit up in the bed, Luke sitting next to me, leaning into me.

“Yeah, this is a good time. It’s always a good time from now on,” I declare into, fussing with the bandages over my eyes and removing them. Soft shapes in the darkness take form. I can’t see that much but I can make out somethings slightly.

I can hear Dane outside say something and two small cheers.  
“The twins are…?” I whisper to Luke.

“We found the twins in the dungeons with Holly. They seem to have been some sort of sick experiment of Eyrox’s. We aren’t pressing into it yet, but they were badly broken by him. Oh, and they both use they them pronouns. They have both male and female anatomy, according to Holly, who helped them bathe the grime off. It’s really quite a miracle for two winged-folk children to be born hermaphrodites,” Luke explains, running his hand through my feathers.

“Sounds like the perfect two to join our little band of misfits,” I whisper, kissing Luke on the lips quickly as four sets of footsteps scuttle into the room.

“Now, be careful, he can’t see you coming,” Crimson’s voice echoes in the room. 

My head darts around to figure out how Crimson’s walking.

“They’re in a wheelchair for now,” Luke says, holding my hand to let me know he’s there.

“Ah.” I nod my head as the bed dips next to us.

“Hey guys,” Crimson says, leaning against my shoulder.

“Hey love,” I whisper back, reaching my hand out.

They take my hand, squeezing it slightly.

“How are you doing?” I ask, trying to image how they feel right now.

“I’m doing better. Much better than I would if Luke wasn’t here,” Crimson reassures me, kissing my cheek.

“Thank you, again for that,” Luke says from next to me.

“You’re my best friend, and my only metamour. Of course I’d save you. You don’t deserve to die,” she replies.

“Okay, you three ready?” Dane asks from the end of the bed.

I nod, a chorus of “yes” and “mhm” from next to me.

Then the bed dips a little and I’m engulfed in feathers and warmth. My hands let go of Crimson and Luke, wrapping around the two children who seemingly scrambled towards me and clung to me.

“H-hey guys,” I whisper as they nuzzle into my pajama shirt.

“They were badly hurt when we found them, but apparently there’s someone with healing abilities here in the palace, so their broken bones have been healed and everything else has been mended. It takes an hour or so to heal adult bones, so your leg should just feel stiff for a while,” Crimson informs me as Dane sinks down behind me, pulling us back towards the headboard.

I rest against the soft muscle of his stomach as the twins cling to my chest, soft snores already filling the room from them.

“You guys are all okay right?” I whisper into the room.

“Of course we’re okay,” Dane replies, nuzzling my hair.

“I’m all good,” Crimson says, resting against my shoulder.

“Just sleep Lance, you have the rest of your life to worry about us,” Luke urges me, curling up next to me.

“Fine, fine…” I whisper, finally letting sleep over take my exhausted body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone catch that Demetrius has appeared before?


	24. Léἀh; Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter!! Oh god we came so far! 
> 
> Yes, the vows are original. I took some inspiration for them, but they're my own work. The rings are all inspired and on the book cover!
> 
> And we see Luke's parents as well, sometimes, you just need to see your son happy to love him.

“I can’t do this. Ycee I can’t do this,” Lance whispers, holding onto Ycee by the shoulders in his bedroom.

Ycee had dressed head to toe already. Wearing a black, collared shirt with gold details running all over the top in the designs of the royal family. She also had pressed black pants that were tailored just for her so her tail fit through them. She had slicked back her hair as well, getting it to lay flat against her head and more formal.

However, Lance was still not dressed. He’d been pacing in his pyjama pants inside the room all morning, his white suit and cape laid out on the bed.

“Lance. Listen to me. I’ve known you for years, nothing has ever scared you. You are Lance Emeryixon, King of the nine seas, retired singer, and King of Terene. If anyone can do this, it’s you. So stop doubting yourself, get in that damn suit and walk down the fucking aisle with me,” Ycee stated, putting her hands on Lance’s arms.

“You’re right… you’re right… but what if they-” Lance mumbles, turning towards the bed, the faint white shapes in his mind where the clothes were laid out.

“No. Don’t doubt yourself. This is Luke, Crimson and Dane we’re talking about. They aren’t going to run from this and neither are you,” Ycee says, moving over to the bed and grabbing the first piece of clothes.

“Okay.”  
__

It took an hour to convince Lance into his outfit and then that it was in fact, the time to head down to the altar. By the time it was over, Ycee swore she wanted to put her head through a wall. 

They paused outside the large doors to the palace gardens, a small murmur of voices coming from beyond the doors as guests chatted amongst themselves. 

Lance took the time to run his fingers over the raised pattern of the wall. Luke had done a beautiful job restoring the palace to its former glory, Lance couldn’t see it, but he could feel it. The emotions, the progress, the heart that had been poured into the murals. It gave him a soft beacon of light in his dark world.

Then the music started playing. A piano-like instrument began with the chords and the doors were pushed open in front of him.

Ycee was at his side in an instant as heads turned towards him.

The garden is lit by thousands of tiny, soft lights and there’s a warm bit of wind that runs past them, fluttering Lance’s cape.

He takes a deep breath and walks forwards.

Lance was dressed in a white suit, gold details all around the jacket in a pattern far too complicated to describe. Behind him trailed a long rose-pink cape with the same gold detailing, and his wings, a suitable white colour for the occasion. His hair was braided around his head into a tight bun with tiny flowers sticking out between the locks.

Together, Ycee guided him down the aisle, towards the altar where Dane stood waiting. 

Dane wore a traditional wedding outfit for his people. A translucent white shirt with gold detailing sewn into the material in a similar pattern to Lance’s jacket and cape. The end of the sleeves wrapped tighter around his wrists, the looser material pooing above them. Cinched around his waist was a small leather corset that came up to his pecs. Underneath the corset was a long rose-pink skirt that had a hole in the back for his tail, as well as a scarf with different shades of brown in a slight ombre. 

Ycee had leaned into Lance to describe the outfit for him and Lance’s eyes watered up around the edges. Half from not being able to see him, half from the happiness that this was in fact finally happening. 

Once they reached the altar, Lance held his hand out for him and Dane took it, guiding him up the steps.

“You look lovely my little léἀh,” Dane whispers to Lance as he stands next to him, still holding his hand.

“Thank you boo,” Lance whispers back, rubbing his thumb against Dane’s.

The two of them turn, Lance out of instinct, as the music shifts to a different tone and the doors open again. 

Dane squeeze’s Lance’s hand, leaning down to him.

“It’s Crimson, she’s all dressed up, just for us. She’s wearing a white dress that starts at her bust and continues down fading into rose-pink at the bottom. There’s gold lace around her neck and down her arms that blends into the dress all the way to the floor. Her hair’s held back by a large braid with flowers and gemstones woven into the strands. She’s gorgeous,” Dane whispers to him as Crimson floats down the aisle towards them.

She takes the spot across from the two of them, reaching out and brushing her hand across Lance’s.  
“Hello léἀh,” she whispers to him softly.

“Hello, princess,” he whispers back.

The music continues on and the doors push open again. 

“It’s Luke, he’s with Liam and Rue. The two little ones are dressed in the dresses we picked out, with their little capes of lace. They look so adorable. But Luke, oh god Luke, he’s radiant,” Dane whispers to Lance, and the tears nearly roll down his cheeks.

“He has a white shirt on, with gold buttons and gold trim around the sleeves and collar. He’s also wearing a vest, with rose-pink fabric for the sleeves and main part, and gold ribbon and lace detailing all around it. It’s tucked into a pair of white high-waisted pants and a long cape from the waist of his pants, trailing behind him. He has a gold arm now, with gorgeous blue jewels inset into the metal and the brightest smile on his face,” Crimson describes to Lance as Luke walks down the aisle to join her at the altar.

There’s a soft silence as Lance pictures the image described to him in his mind. His heart skips a beat in his chest.

“Lance, look at you. Look at us, we’re here finally. You look stunning,” Luke whispers as he reaches the altar, taking Lance’s other hand in his own.

Beside them, the priest coughs.  
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today for a momentous occasion. To witness the marriage of our next rulers. Now marriage is a sacrifice, a step in the journey of your love you can choose to take this step in life…” the priest drones on, going on for quite some time about love, and marriage and sacrifice until finally reaching the vows.  
“Now, the grooms and bride have written their own vows,” the priest announces, gesturing for someone to start.

Luke starts, adjusting his collar.  
“Lance, Dane, I promise to always remember that you are indeed mortal. That you may sometimes make questionable decisions, decisions I can’t make on my own, like writing to my parents to invite them here today. Never did I imagine they’d say yes, let alone be supportive of me finally. But what I love about you is I know that you do these things because you care so deeply about those who are close to you and are genuinely one of the most thoughtful and considerate people I have ever known. Today, I promise to raise you up as high as you have raised me. We have been through so much, together and apart, that our lives aren’t what they used to be. However, as we step forward together, I promise to show you our own blend of normal. Crimson, I know you will always be by my side for this, the one I can turn to when Dane and Lance are too much for me, and I thank you for that. I promise to be the best metamour I can to you. With this candle and this soul, I swear to be your light until I die. ”

Dane squeezes his hand.  
“My life hasn’t always been what I’ve planned or expected. Every time I settled into a new normal, the world has thrown a curve ball at me. Lance, you rejoined my life like a ball of light right when I needed you most. Crimson, I never expected to love you, but your compassion struck me in a way I never knew possible. You managed to worm your way into my heart and didn’t leave, and I haven’t dreamed of you leaving since. Luke, you fill every day with joy and happiness, you are a song that repeats in my mind every moment of every day. You showed me there was more to love than what I knew. Your heart into my hands, my life in yours. With these hands, I will lift your sorrows and hold you up when you can’t stand.”

“I, Crimson, take you, Dane and Lance, to be no other than yourself. Lance, you have been the beacon of my life since childhood and you will always be my beacon till death. Dane, you showed me a world beyond the one I grew up knowing. You two have taken me on a journey of indescribable adventure in love, and Luke, I promise with all my heart I will be the best metamour in law for you. Lean on me and I will lean on you, support each other and we will support you back. Loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not yet know, I will respect your integrity and have faith in your abiding love for me, through all our years, and in all that life may bring us. Your cup will never be empty, for I will be your wine."

Lance takes a deep breath.  
“Luke, Dane, Crimson, you have been with me for as long as I can remember. Dane, my first friend, my last found family, you brought calm into my world when I needed it most, sticking with me while my world crashed around me and rebuilding it with me when I was ready. Crimson, we grew up with each other, watching the other’s back on the streets of Asteria, trying to make a name for ourselves. You taught me that even if the world around me is a cruel, unforgiving place, there will always be love in the dark,” Lance pauses, choking back a sob as tears begin to roll down his cheeks.  
He takes a deep breath and resumes. “Luke, you were there for me when I stumbled into your bookshop, on the verge of stopping my own life. You and your little shop, and your dazzling smile kept my hands busy and my mind calm and quiet with your presence. Your world into mine, my heart into yours. With these rings, I ask you to be mine.”

“Luke, do you take these men, Dane and Lance to be your lawfully wedded husbands and accept the responsibility of ruling over the kingdom of Terene till you pass down your place to a worthy heir or death takes your soul?” the priest asks, resuming his speech, brushing a tear from his eye.

“I do,” Luke nods, picking up a ring from Liam’s ring cushion. It’s a thin band of gold, disconnected from the other side, each end ending with sculpted branches reaching out, one end with a singular leaf. He slips it onto Dane’s finger as Lance picks up a similar crown and sets it on Dane’s head.

“Dane, do you take these people, Crimson, Lance and Luke, to be your lawfully wedded spouses and accept the responsibility of ruling over the kingdom of Terene till you pass down your place to a worthy heir or death takes your soul?” the priest asks again.

“I do,” Dane nods, wiping away tears from his eyes as he picks up a small ring, it’s two gold bands with small clumps of flowers and branches on thin gold strands that connect the ring together. Pink diamonds are set in the metal for the flowers. Carefully, he slides it onto Crimson’s finger as Lance places a crown of similar design around Crimsons finger, only without the top band.

“Crimson, do you take Dane and Lance to be your lawfully wedded husbands and accept the responsibility of ruling over the kingdom of Terene till you pass down your place to a worthy heir or death takes your soul?”

“I do,” Crimson replies, squeezing Lance’s hand before reaching forwards and picking up a ring that looks like it’s a gold branch bent in the shape of a ring, with small diamonds set at the end of some of the branch stubs. She slips it onto Lance’s finger as Luke places a crown of similar design on Lance’s head.

“And finally, Lance, do you take these people, Crimson, Dane and Luke, to be your lawfully wedded spouses and accept the responsibility of ruling over the kingdom of Terene till you pass down your place to a worthy heir or death takes your soul?”

“I do,” Lance says through choked sobs, taking the ring with diamonds arranged in the shape of a flower with petals that he’d had saved from years ago and reaching forward, sliding it onto Luke’s finger. Beside him, Dane takes a crown of matching design, a simple band with a diamond flower arrangement on the front and places it carefully on Luke’s head.

“Then I pronounce the four of you our new Monarchs and married. May your marriage be long and joyful. You may kiss!” the priest announces.

They lean forwards, to the person across from them as the crowd cheered beside them. They couldn’t hear it, the whole world stood still as the kissed in each other’s presence, holding hands between the four of them.

It was finally over. Their crazy adventures, their heartbreaking tragedies. It was all behind them.

Yes, there’d be more, there always would be. But now, it would be more mundane, getting older, raising Rue and Liam and…

Lance places his hand on Crimson’s stomach.

Maybe one more. 

But those adventures would pale in comparison to the stories they’ll tell.

They were finally done.

They were finally home.


	25. Epilogue

_ They say everything happens for a reason. _

_ For every yin, there is a yang. For each good, there is an equal evil. For every action, there is a consequence. _

_ Fate is something that lies in the stars and the journeys and actions of our past and our ancestor’s past. _

_ Fate is something we can’t change. A set in the stone path created by some being of a higher power.  _

_ But maybe… fate can be changed, moulded into our own design. _

_ You can choose to just accept the hand you’re dealt. Living your life without ever knowing why. _

_ Or… _

_ Just maybe, you’re able to forge your own path. Choose the people you know, those you love and those you battle with. _

_ I like to believe that I forged my own path. _

_ But as I watch him from above, I begin to wonder what that truly means…  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Veiled Falls (the multiverse this novel's set in) will return again! 
> 
> I already have an OC of Lance and Luke's child, Aubrey. And there are plans in place for this series to continue.
> 
> Keep your eyes open, and remember...
> 
> things aren't always as they seem.


End file.
